


Yes, My Lord

by s_n_k_tt



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Arranged Marriage, Betrayal, Crime, F/M, Fluff, Hate to Love, I have no idea what to put, M/M, Manor House, Rating will probably change, Romance, Slow Build, Violence, new start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 13:31:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_n_k_tt/pseuds/s_n_k_tt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in an alternative universe where titans were in story books. </p><p>The characters are now both lords/ladies and servants working for them. Levi has escaped his old life in a favour of being a butler, serving the young lord Eren and the young lady Mikasa while their father is away. Life has settled well but sparks up when the young lord tries to break tradition (much to Levi's dismay and eventual enjoynent) and Levi's past begins to creep from its grave to drag him back, as well as his lover and friends.</p><p>I do not own any of these characters</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing a fanfiction so please be nice and review^^.  
> This chapter is kind of a basic introduction to the characters and everyday life for them but I promise the plot with thicken in the next chapters. Happy reading! 
> 
> People who appear:  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Butler- Levi  
> Housekeeper- Petra Ral  
> Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
> Valet- Erwin Smith  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> First Footman- Jean Kirstein  
> Under Cook-Sasha Blouse  
> Head Groom or Stable Master- Dita Ness  
> Groom- Thomas Wagner
> 
> Also each chapter gets a Diary Entry from different characters for them to confess the dark secrets that don't make it into their everyday lives ;)

Diary Entry

Monday. Monday is always the worst. I swear God only made it to piss me off personally. I’ve been called the son of the devil before so God probably did make it to piss me off. It’s not because I have to go back to work. I work all week, from 6 in the morning till 9 at night. Not that I’m complaining about the work or its hours. Perfectly fine. Just the employers. The Lord is around a week every six months; his wife is dead and his adopted daughter, Mikasa Ackerman, whom I am sure, is related properly to the devil, and the idiotic brash brat of a son named Eren Yeager.

**Chapter 1- Prologue  
**

A loud and deft knock to the door echoed in the darkened room.  
  
The butler waited patiently outside the door, his free hand tense behind his back as usual, while the other was raised slightly, a silver tray balancing precariously on level with the butler’s head on five white gloved fingers. Depending on the day he could be waiting for between three and thirty minutes for the young master to arise from his slumber.  
  
Today he was lucky, five minutes after the short knock a lethargic voice came from behind the closed door, sounding like a cross between a yawn and ‘come in’.  
  
The butler gave the knob a subtle twist, opening it as it swung open to allow him to enter. The room was almost completely dark, save for the light that crept under the curtains and cast a thin band of light across the floor, giving the butler enough visibility to see his way. However, it wasn’t as though he needed to see it anymore; the room’s layout had been unchanged for the past ten years.   
  
He moved to place the silver tray on a desk near the wall, straightening it before turning and proficiently walking over the curtain which lay on the west side of the room. Eight foot thick curtains were easily to pull apart if you knew how. The butler started at the furthest end, knowing full well if he did the one nearest the young master he would get berated on how he hurt the young master’ _delicate_ eyes and he would have the daughter of Satan on his back for a week. The curtain hooks scratched against the metal of the bar, hopefully stopping the young master from dropping back to sleep. As each one opened the bedroom was glazed in sunlight. Summer the current season was, not like he had time to enjoy it with this brat making him run all over the place. When the last curtain was drawn and placed behind the floral holding hook he turned back to hear the sound of an inhuman objection from the bed.  
  
The bed was splendid in its own right and still made the butler admire it after so long of seeing it. The Lord had brought it back from one of his long winded expedition to locate a new medicine and the people there had given it him for curing their chief of a fever. These four posters had blue nets cascading down to about one third down the posters.   
  
With a sigh he drew his admiration gaze back down to the shape in the bed, a blue silk tumour rising from the mattress in an ocean of silk and satin pillows.  He face soon became expressionless again as he turned to move back to where he had placed the silver tray. Now visible on it was a collection of tea wear. A china cup that had paintings of a hunting scene on, a silver teapot full of lemon tea leaves that were bathing and tinting the boiling hot water they were surrounded in. He placed the tea strainer on top of the china cup and began to pour the hot mixture. He watched as the tea leaves got trapped, getting the level to the designated height before removing the strainer. In went two sugar cubes and ten centimetres cubed of milk. Three stirs right and two left.  
  
By time the tea was done his young master was slowly sitting up in bed. He had formed himself a throne of pillows. Personally the butler was surprised that he could do that himself, he normally asks the butler to do it for him.   
  
The young master looked more like his mother than his father, well when he was properly dressed. He watched as a pair of vast eyes watched him preparing the tea; each one containing a puddle of ocean greens where in the middle sat an island of black. His hair was a light chestnut hair colour, slightly long but apparently that’s how most of the teenage boys were wearing their hair now. Well long but probably not in the current style the young master had it. One side the tufts of hair were in all direction while the other was flat.  
  
The butler watched him stretch in his throne of pillows, the butler placing the china tea cup on the saucer and moved it over to the young master. As he moved closer the boy looked over at him, sitting more up right before speaking “Morning Levi. Lemon today”  
  
The fact the young master used his first name made his eye slightly twitch. God, he hated this brat and his ignorance of how you were supposed to speak. Luckily the young master didn’t notice the twitch; otherwise he would probably not hear the end of it. He simply replied, keeping all the annoyance and bitterness out of his voice “Good morning Lord Eren, you have your usual good sense of smell today”  
  
He handed the boy his tea as he waited patiently by the bed side.  
  
“What time is it?”  
  
“Ten in the morning my Lord”

“I thought I had over slept”  
  
The butler bit his tongue to give out a sigh, keeping his eyes fixed on the window opposite to avoid giving his young master the death stare. Half way through the tea the young master spoke again “So what is my agenda today Levi?”  
  
Again, the eye twitched and he noticed a slight smirk on the young master’s lips. The stupid fucking brat was doing it on purpose.  
  
“Mr Heichou, my Lord. Today Ms Hanji is commanded that you come to her lesson or she will send for your father to return.”  
  
“Hm. Well not like he can command me to do anything anyway. He truly has no guts when it comes to family, only strangers.”  
  
Levi’s eyes remained their emotionless grey but this brat was pissing him off deep inside. He was spoiled horribly since his mother passed away and this had left the brat with a brash attitude and a big head.  
  
“Ms Hanji asks if you can meet her at midday under the oak tree. She says it is too hot in the classroom for a dog to stay, never mind a human.”  
  
He watched as the brat began to think. ‘ _Oh, don’t wear that pin sized brain of yours out before your_ lesson’ was the thing that he wanted to say but if he valued his job, and valued not being preyed on by Young Lady Mikasa he would have to remain silent.  
  
After the tea had been finished, his job was now over for the part. Now it was up to the valet to get the brat dressed while he went down and told the kitchen staff to prepare breakfast for the young master. Luckily it wasn’t his job to wake up the young lady; Krisha had that down to perfection now. The young lady’s lesson always started early, giving the young master extra time in bed. He didn’t know why she allowed it, some kind of reason of he saved her but he didn’t bother to pry. He moved and rang the bell, signalling the valet needed to come.   
  
The butler collected up the china cup and the saucer, placing them back on a tray and once more it moved onto his finger, balanced perfectly as he moved to leave the room, the young master saying “Levi” stopped him.  
  
“Yes, My young lord?”  
  
“Call me Eren from now on”  
  
“I’m sorry my young lord, I am unable to do that” This is what pissed him off. He didn’t want to be on first name terms with this brat at all. Employee and Employer’s son was their relationship. Butler and young lord.  
  
The young gave a sort of grunt of disapproval but simply said “Fine then, go.”  
  
With that the butler was quickly out of his room, closing the door as he pinched the bridge of his nose while releasing a sigh of annoyance.

* * *

 

The butler was heading down the staff stair case; cold and concrete with no decoration.  
  
He heard other footsteps heading towards him as the usual face appeared from bottom of the stair. Erwin Smith. They joined the house service at the same time and achieved the upper servant’s authority at the same time more or less. He was a valet, and his job was the dress the brat.

Mr Smith was much taller than Mr Heichou, well, anyone was really and had a commanding face, but since he was better with the employers he was happy to work as the valet.

They gave each other a small nod in recognition before the brushed past each other and onto their next job.

He soon arrived in the kitchen, Marco starting to begin the lunch time preparation while Sasha, his undercook, was stuffing her face with left-overs from this morning’s breakfast. Cold sausage, beans, eggs. Disgusting.

When Marco finally noticed Mr Hiechou he gave a warm smile he always did.

“Morning Mr Heichou”

  
“Morning Marco. The brat wants his breakfast”

Marco gave him a look saying ‘I’ve just finished doing it’. The butler replied with a simple shrug, moving to the sink.

“Can’t be helped, please make him some now. And these dishes aren’t washed properly, do it again”

The butler whipped his hand on a clean tea towel nearby after moving on a grease patch. He moved away from the disgusting mess as Marco spoke.

“Sasha, clean them again and please do them properly”

Sasha opened her mouth the complain, but the look Mr Heichou sent her shot her down in silence as she hurried to start the job over again. Marco looked at apologetically at Sasha before moving down the corridor to the store room to pick up some of breakfast materials.

* * *

 

It was half past midday by the time Young lord Eren had entered into the gardens and started his leisurely walk to his teacher Ms Hanji.

She had once been his father’s assistant but she stayed after Lady Yeager died to look after Eren and Mikasa. She worked as the doctor for the children and for the staff as well as the teacher for the children.

When she came into view she looked up at Eren.

She had a strong face, but her eyes glittered with excitement and insanity of a scientist and a teacher. Her oddly colour hair was pulled back into a high pony tail, her glasses reflecting the sun a little.

“Half an hour late my young lord”

“Call me Eren, I don’t like young lord”

“But I c-“She was cut off by the young lord.

“Mr Heichou has already said that”

His tone was quite down. Ever since he was young he always had a title with his name, and by the age of seventeen it was getting annoying. He tried to influence all of them to call him Eren but it never worked. Tradition ran riot through these large houses and apparently, this one was just the same.

Ms Hanji watched the face of the young master sink slowly. She did feel sorry for him. His father was always away and they lived in the middle of nowhere so there was no one here his age that he could relate to, apart from Armin.

“If you are really that desperate I can try and talk Mr Heichou into going on first name terms. If he doesn’t then we can make him suffer a day trip out with us, Mikasa and Armin”

That seemed the rise the boy’s face back up. A reverse titanic. She might as well start planning for the outing now, no way would Mr Heichou agree to that. He had no better nature so applying to that wouldn’t work. Mr Heichou was clean of any black mail threats and he didn’t appear to have any problems apart from the young master and first name terms. Digging a channel would be easier than that.

“Anyway, now we have a deal let’s get to work”

The young master grimaced at the word “work” but gave a curt nod as agreeing even though his whole body was poised to make a run for it.

It was around four in the afternoon that the lessons finally stopped. Latin, Mathematics and English literature were Monday’s subjects.

Ms Hanji knew it was best to grab Mr Heichou’s attention now; he was most likely beside the back door having his smoke break.

Her voice split through the air, almost making Mr Heichou drop his cigarette from the annoyance of it.

“Good afternoon Mr Heichou”

“Hello Hanji”

“Think yo-?”

“No.”

Hanji face went from happy and bubbly to serious and blunt in 0.2 seconds. When she was serious she seemed to get a glint in her eye that had a meaning of ‘I’m going to devour you inside out’ but the butler had learned to wipe it off like removing a flake of dust from his uniform.

“Do it or you taking the young master shopping tomorrow”

“Is that a threat?” The butler’s lead eyes twinkled with something. Adrenaline of a threat. Adrenaline of a consequence.

“Yes.”

“It’s not going to work shitty glasses. I rather spend a day with that brat then have him breaking down the boundaries of butler and lord.”

Hanji face dropped as she sat on one of the crates looking up at the butler. They had known each other for ten years. But she had met him before. The butler, or Levi she was able to call him before, had been fighting. She couldn’t just leave someone in distress with blood on their face so she used her apprentice ability to help fix him. She did make the scar he had smaller, but it was still there if you looked closely just above his eyebrow.

“Stop staring”

Mr Heichou voice came out as he took his final lungful of smoke and breathed it out slowly, stubbing the cigarette out before flicking it away with a deft movement. Hanji turned her head away, noticing Thomas Wager grooming one of the horses with Dita Ness close showing him the different horse’s brushes that could be used. Poor Thomas, he had only been here a week and he was expected to know the different brushes already.

“Anyway, I can’t keep chatting. Tomorrow we are going to the city Sina”

Hanji hopped up as Mr Heichou went to grab her, she giving her signature smile as her bubbly attitude returned again.

“I know how much you love that place Levi”

The ‘i’ was exaggerated as his eye began to twitch. She watched joyfully at the twitch, she never getting tired of seeing that little movement on an otherwise concrete surface. With a movement she dashed off before he could lay his hands on her.

Mr Heichou ran a hand through his hair, before rubbing the shaved part of his head. ‘I need that shaved again’ he thought, making a mental note to book himself in on his next day off.

He hated city Sina. It was way far too snobbish for him liking where people would look down on a butler like he was a thief but if it taught that brat that no matter what he did that Mr Heichou won’t allow first name terms then it be well worth the hassle.

He turned as he heard him name called by Miss Ral, the house keeper. She had been nothing more than a between servant when she first joined their squad, and rode through the ranks with ease to become head of the servants.

The servants might not believe he could hear them but he could. They often said that he and Petra would end up together and he believed some were betting on it. Too bad for them. He was about straight as a U bend.

With a push from the wall he dusted off his uniform and headed back inside, where a woman around two centimetres shorter than himself stood in the middle of the hall way. She was pretty, and he probably would agree with the staff that he would date her but unfortunately he preferred dicks.

“The Lord has sent message that he is returning on Friday”

“Oh good news, we get to see him for another week before he pisses back off to mumbo jumbo land leaving us with the she-devil and a guy with less brain cells than Jean”

Jean’s voice echoed from down the hall way, in the mending room. “Hey!”

Mr Heichou ignored him, simply rolling his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“So we have to prepare a feast for him and his researchers?”

Petra just gave a silent nod as her deep green eyes met his own stone grey ones before she looked away, scratching her cheek gently and seemed to trying to disguise the faint blush she had as an itch. The butler simply looked at her.

With a sigh he headed towards the stairs, the faint smell of the preparation of dinner gripped at his stomach but in turn he ignored it, heading up the stairs to attend to his next job.

Internally he grimaced at the aspect of having to spend a whole day with his employers and the crazy thing they called a teacher.

Tomorrow was going to be a _very_ long day.


	2. Your Choice (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One trip to City Sina with his employers and Hanji and Levi is already wanting to kill. And something's making a nest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really happy about the views it has got. Thank you all!  
> This chapter is split into two parts since I could not stop writing so I'm sorry if I cut it off just before we get a glimpse of something Dx
> 
> I decided to up date this early since it in two parts. Part one for today and I'll update part 2 on my normal day. (Tuesday). This chapter is in both first and third person.
> 
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

Even putting that Levi in a place of insecurity he took it like it was a child’s blow. I really don’t truly see what Petra sees in him but it’s in vain anyway since he rather play tonsil-tennis with a man. Maybe I could secretly make notes on the interactions between the two, a time study on behaviour of a concrete man and the person he hates the most. A love-hate relationship! Breathe….breathe. No place to be fan-girling. Not yet. I must remember to bring my notepad. I’ll have Moblit bring more note pads. This could be a very long study.

 

**_ Chapter 2- Your Choice _ **

Mr Heichou stood their surprised.

Not surprised. Stunned. Astonished. Aghast. Astounded.

That brat. The shitty brat who didn’t get up till fucking ten or eleven in the morning was sitting at the dining room table at eight the morning.

Mr Heichou had never been a religious man. Never trusted religion. But he had prayed to whatever fucker was up there that the brat would have over slept and he could escape having to go to the city Sina. Just his shitty luck that the bastard would be paying attention to other people inside of them who needed it.

His stone eyes slowly narrowed to Miss Hanji who was sat beside the young lord with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth as she looked back at Mr Heichou before jotting down something on her notepad.

The butler gulped slowly at the writing, a slight prang of regret filling the back of his mind that had given Hanji something to write about. He didn’t know what but if it was enough to make Hanji write it down it was enough to get worried over her.

But this did not show on his face as he turned back to the young lord, placing the pre-made cup of raspberry tea beside him gently before turning and hoping the leave the room before they said anything. Luck was not on his side today as the bubbly voice that made his grit his teeth echoed in the dining room.

“The young master and I have agreed you can dress in a casual suit today instead of your uniform, for the trip. Unless you want to change your mind, it’s your choice”

The butler stood silent, his back to the young master and Hanji.

1 second.

5 seconds.

10 seconds.

On the eleventh second, just before the silence became awkward the butler finally spoke, the voice neutral but having an under tone of annoyance.

“Of course my lord and Miss Hanji, I shall go dress immediately and get Thomas and Diss to get the carriage ready. I’ll also alert Jean as well”

The butler took his leave, moving from the room and disappeared down the maze of corridors with a scowl which could kill if anyone looked at it.

Miss Hanji watched the butler leaving, giving a heavy sigh and flopped herself forward onto the dining room table, narrowing missing the half eaten piece of toast which lie on his place now beside her head as she looked up at the young master.

His eyes were slowly turning from the empty space where the butler stood, looking down at the pinky coloured tea that was placed before him. His eyes seemed empty, but in reality Hanji knew he was thinking. Thinking of ways if this failed.

She broke the silence, countering his train of thought.

“It won’t fail”

He looked over at her, seeming taken back by her words but his face room relaxed, the smile breaking out that she had known for so long. Pearl white straight teeth. An eternal smile that granted happiness for all those who witnessed it.

Those eyes which were empty a few moments ago now burned fiercely, with sparked ambition slowly growing into a bonfire as he nodded, taking the tea and taking a drink from it.

“We better get changed my young lord; it will be a hot day. Miss Reiss is getting your sister ready and I’ve called Mr Smith for you”

 

By nine they were already on their way. Inside the black carriage were Young Lord and Lady on one side while Hanji and Heichou sat opposite, Jean outside guiding and whipping two large brown stallions along the road.

Miss Hanji had traded in her usual teaching outfit for something summery, and Mr Heichou admitted mentally that it suited her. If he said anything he would never hear the end of it again with four eyes. It was a violet dress, long with a slit up in side of the leg and a pair of black heels.

Young lady Mikasa had followed suit, with much short dress the colour of royal blue, a pair of pink heels to go with it.

From the scowl that he had seen on Erwin before they left something much have happened with the young lord. Now he saw what.  The young lord wore a pair of smart black trousers, polished black shoes and a shirt lose shirt. Normal. But what seemed to piss Erwin off and made Levi’s eye twitch was the fact the first three top buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing tanned skin and the board V of the collar bones. The tie was missing as well. Fuck formal tradition is seemed.

The butler had gone for similar, but his white shirt was buttoned up full and a black butler’s coat (lacking the sparrow tails they usual had).

The silence of the journey was broken by Hanji’s constant reciting of “I spy” and tried to get everyone involved. The young lord had gone along with it for like ten minutes before he got frustrated of not being able to figure out Hanji’s “I spy with my little eye something beginning with B”.

From then on was silence for the next hour, not the like butler or Mikasa minded at all. The young lord made a small huff now and then and Hanji made an exhausted sigh with a stretch.

Jean saw City Sina coming up, 50 meter high walls surrounding the expansive well off city with a massive stone Emblem like a cameo brooch of a women’s head. The goddess the city is named after and the seal of the ruler of the city.

The coach pasted through the arched stone way into the city and was caught in the flow of other coaches into the drop off area. Jean leapt off carriage, opening the door and allowed the contents out, starting with the young master and ending in the butler. The butler turned to him.

“That carriage is filthy, take it to be cleaned both inside or out if you value your sorry ass. Be back here in exactly five hours”

“Six” Hanji said happily, clapping Jean on the shoulder which made his wince from the pain of it. “We are having extra-long lunch”

If the butler could have killed the shit-glasses here he would have. But he didn’t feel like falling back into that life again.

Hanji gave her largest grin as she grabbed the butler’s shoulders, forcing him away and towards the young lord and lady with an iron grip so he couldn’t struggle off.

She knew it would piss Levi off being undermined but since they were in the middle of high class society it wasn’t his place to say anything to any of them and Hanji would take advantage of that fact.

Once her hands were off his shoulder he made a proficient gesture with them, before dusting them lightly with his gloved hands. Hanji looked dramatically offended of him subtly calling her filthy till Mikasa interrupted them.

“Are we going to go shopping or are the two of you just going to insult each other all day?”

Hanji gave a large grin and the butler simply placed a fisted right hand over his chest to thump on his heart before bowing to her as a way of saying yes. Even if that fist secretly wanted to connect with Hanji’s head.

Mikasa nodded and turned on her heel, hooking her arm with Eren’s as they headed off towards the main street.

Jean watched, leaning against the carriage, his eyes slightly lidded as he was in a dream world; a dream world where class didn’t matter, where people could like who they wanted and not be judged. Unfortunately for him that was a dream and he lived in reality.

He was fucking stuck on Earth while she danced in the stars.

He looked away from Mikasa, his half lidded eyes closing shut as he gritted his teeth and forced himself off the carriage. With nimble movement he was on the seat in front of the carriage, clicking his tongue before whipping the horses into moving.

Why would a Lady love a footman?

* * *

 

_ **Levi POV** _

Four hours.

Four Fucking hours.

I had been glared at ten times, asked to leave a shop for my ‘aura’ five times and been called riff raff at least twice.

And the two brats had only bought one thing.

When I sighed up for the butler’s position in this house hold I didn’t realise I would be an ass for these fucking children. (Ass as in animal, not as in the thing we shit out of)

But with Hanji telling me to give in, it made me so much more determined to wipe that shit-eating grin off her face for good and when we got back to the house I would make sure there were plenty of mistakes concerning her work going missing and her tripping over her feet by _accident._ Anything to make her pay for the sins she had committed against him today.

They were now heading towards the café they usually ate at during the lunch hour, a secluded one in the side street with the name Yalkell Dist. I admit it is better than other places, the staff don’t scowl at me like I’m a small brat with a mischievous glint in his eye and they treat me with a little respect.

The café had both a sophisticated theme but with an air of comfort as well. The bell rug as usual as I held the door open for the others, allowing them in before slowly closing it.

They still hadn’t redecorated but at least the place was cleaned to my standards. I doubt I could truly relax if it wasn’t and Hanji knew it, which I had a feeling was the reason why she always came here.

We walked past an expansive mirror as we headed towards the patio, I took a glance at myself, staring at the darkening circle under my eyes and reminded too much of my life before service. I turned my head away instantaneously at the grim thought before swiftly moving on behind Hanji.

The waiter place us at a table bathed half in sunlight while the other half remained the shade. I am thankful Hanji and the young lord loved to be in the sun and I prefer the shade, and apparently the young lady did as well. I sat down after I had moved all their chairs in before sitting my own.

We waited in silence.

Well I waited in silence while the other chatted among them but I slowly tuned out, opting for watching an invisible object over to my left before my line of sight was obstructed by the waiter once more. He spoke through me, like I wasn’t even there.

“What would the Young Lord and Lady like?”

Mikasa placed the menu she had been fanning herself with down, looking over at Eren before speaking.

“Just a glass of iced water” She looked back at Eren who proceeded to speak after her.

“Lemonade for me, and a slice of apple pie”

The waiter nodded, jotting their order down before stopping and looking back at Eren.

“I’m terribly sorry my Lord but we have to have any apple pies arrived. There was an accident with the cart that makes the deliveries and we did not have the time or staff to go pick them up.”

I watched as the young lord gave out a series of over dramatic mumbled before collapsing on the table in a sorry state which caused my eyebrow to rise slightly before dropping down before the young lady saw.

Hanji saw the slight movement and from the corner of my eye I saw those lips of hers slowly grow into her usual ‘I’m planning something’ grin which was aimed at me. Fuck me.

I wished there was a bucket of water I shoulder submerge my head in as she started speaking, her voice way too happy to have a good thing to say.

“Levi can go! He’s fast when he needs to be and we don’t want to disappoint our young lord do we?”

She was looking closely at me, like I was some kind of scientific…thing that she had been monitoring for a long time and now was the time something was supposed to happen. I wasn’t giving her that satisfaction. No way was shitty-glasses getting under my skin like that so I played along with their game.

I promptly rose from my chair, placing my hand over my chest with a clenched fist at my heart before bowing.

“You are right Ms Hanji; I will go immediately as soon as I receive the address.”

Hanji looked at him, taking out her notepad in less than a second and was scribbling something but I didn’t dare allow my mind to wander onto what the fuck could be so interesting about me doing my bloody job. I didn’t bother to glance at the other two; it seemed too much trouble to have their looks in my mind all day.

Following the waiter I took a seat near where he had disappeared too. I wasn’t waiting long. Three minutes tops really as he appeared again with my employers order and handed me two slips before he spoke, already heading to the patio.

“One had the address on and the other is proving you are authentic and not trying to trick them”

The waiter was gone and I was there standing with the two pieces of paper. One had a delicate signature while the other was written in rough short hand but I could make it out.

With that I pocket the two slips in my blazer’s pocket before heading from the shop and in appropriate direction.

* * *

 

It took me just around thirty minutes to reach my destination and this time, since the young master nor the other two were present I didn’t give two fucks on giving people my ‘signature’ death glare and happily shoved pasted them, some people even stumbling and cursing much to my enjoyment.

When I arrived I could see the problem that they faced. By the side of the bakery was the cart, well remains of a cart. The sides had been smashed in, all the wheels removed and I noticed two had been broken in half while the other two were trapped around the street lamp. Well at least they were telling the truth.

Then I noticed something which made my eyes closely narrow. A mark. A symbol on the side of the cart which wasn’t destroyed. It was carved in neatly. In other words someone who knew how to handle a blade.

The symbol in question was a pair of wings set on a shield.

The Wings of Freedom were making, or already had a nest here. Now it wasn’t safe.

The carving had me memorised, it being the key to the dam that held back all my previous feelings and past. But before my mind and body became desperate the crack of a whip echoed behind my head brought me back before my mind could get truly infected with them and my gaze drew back to my original task in hand.

I entered the bakery. Instantly the sickly sweet smell of freshly iced pastries and cake flickered up my nose which blended with the faint smell of cooking fruit and freshly brewed coffee. This place was a small coffee shop, selling over twenty different types or that’s what it said on the board in the front window. I headed towards the counter, wiping my finger along the surface. Dusted but not polished. Adequate.

The man behind the counter looked down on me. Not as much in a snobbish way, mainly because of my height and that pissed me off. I removed the signed piece and placed it on the counter where he took it, reaching up to rub a brown well-trimmed moustache before nodding.

“Fine, I’ll get them for you”

I didn’t see him leave, too bothered trying to think of a reason why they were in this city. Yeah, better picking than Maria and much better than Rose but the military police swarm this place. It’s the hive of them in reality and yet they were here, sitting underneath the hive and stealing the honey from under the nose of them.

I had to stifle a chuckle. The military police were such dickheads with their pride so far up their arse they can’t chase after criminals.

The man soon returned, placing a box in my arms before dusting his hands on his apron.

“Please come again _sir_ ”

Like fuck I will.

I just nodded and walked out of the store, not even glancing at the awkward cart and started the journey back.

Then that’s when it caught my eye again, something from the alley way, between the butcher’s and the shoe mender. Just a glimpse but I knew I saw it, a pair of wings emblem on a hand. The alley way was shaded and cluttered with things even during the day light it could hide someone.

That’s all I needed to find him.

I turned from the main street, avoiding the bag of bones from the butchers and wore tools from the shoe mender, to find that bastard who had so obvious wanted my fucking attention. Well he was going to get it, and get a lot more than just my bloody attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Butler- Levi  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> First Footman- Jean Kirstein
> 
> I'm really sorry about the cut off but please stay tuned ready for Tuesday to see the other side of Levi^^


	3. Your Choice (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chase ends and a second life begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔Here's part 2 as promised^^  
> ⚔I had a little writers block about half way so I went with a random idea to fill. Sorry if it doesn't seem to flow DX  
> ⚔Please enjoy though^^ If there are any spelling/grammar mistakes then please message me to tell me :)  
> ⚔Updating will go back to regular Tuesday now.  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

** Part 2 **

**_ Levi POV _ **

Fuck. Fuck. And extra fuck for that matter.

Why the fuck did common sense leave me at the last minute before I started the chase.

Well I say chase but to say how obvious the person is making themselves it already tells me they want my attention and to follow them. My usual attitude would to go against what he wanted but right now, duty overrode that attitude the moment I saw the emblem.

Now he was leading me to wherever the fuck he needed me to be and at the minute, I was happily to oblige.

I don’t know how long I had been running for before he stopped at a dead end. We were far away from the main street that all I could hear was his panting. Pathetic if that’s all that exhausted you.

Most people would give him chance to breathe before getting him to answer questions. I’m not most people.

Placing the box on the floor, I strode over to him within five steps. I placed an iron grip on the person’s shoulder, feeling the muscle tense underneath my fingers and launched him straight into the brick way.

I knew his head or ribs could have cracked but at this moment I didn’t care.

“I want answers. Why the fuck are the Survey Corps here?”

The person’s face was hidden by a hooded short cloak the colour of a dark green and I couldn’t see the expression but I knew enough that he or she was biting their lips. I gave them another five seconds before I placed a hand on their head and forced it against the wall, pulling the skin against the rough brick work.

That got some noise. Not answers. But non-human sounds of pain as I knew their skin was being eroded away by the jagged edge of the low class brick. I dragged the face back up, pinning it still against the wall.

On the wall was stained in places with blood now.

Still didn’t care.

“Answer or I’ll break your arm while doing it”

I had no real problem with this. Service may had changed my ways a little but deep down this was instinct. When the person didn’t reply I started to do it again, only to stop the torture as the sound of feet on walls hit my ears.

I released the person, he or she falling straight to their knee with crimson droplet staining the hands before dripping onto the cobbled alley way. I angled my head upwards, the wall thankfully protecting my eyes from the sun and saw what suspected.

Enclosed.

Good word to describe my predicament my duty had got me in.

I had enough time in my past to know sounds of being surrounded. And here I was, surrounded. Ten of them, wearing the same cloak as the bleeding bastard behind me and most likely another two behind the wall just in case I was stupid enough to attempt to escape. I knew better.

I stood my ground, each one of the demons above me poised to capture or kill me at any intention of killing the brat behind me or making a run for it.

Then a several claps came from down the alleyway.

The rhythm and echo was one I knew all too well.

My gaze fell down to the man in front of me. Dot Pixis.

One thing I know is if he had to crawl from the gutters into open air then the reason must be serious. And if I was here it meant I was involved in that reason.

Never let his appearance deceive you. He looks old, speaks eccentric and drinks a bloody lot but this man could wipe you from existence if he wanted and that’s the reason he could want me here. Highly unlike otherwise I would be already dead before I had chance to shove that brat’s face against the wall.

I held those gaze with those golden orbs before he began to speak.

“Been a while hasn’t Levi? Or Criminal’s strongest”

I didn’t give him an answer he probably wanted but he knew what was coming from my mouth anyway.

“Why the fuck have you crawled from your gutter nest?”

I could literally feel and hear the muscles of each person tensing all around me; from fear of what Pixis may do to me or from the anger of me insulting their leader.

He simply threw his head back a little to give out a small laugh. Whether it was customary or whether he actually found it funny I didn’t know.

“Usual Levi, always asking the question required. Well Maria and Rose are all good but I have connections in city Sina which are much better to handle.”

“In other words there corrupt military police here which are easier to bribe.”

“You catch on quick as always Levi. Yeah, I’ll admit it easier to get the military police to act like obedient dogs and plus the pickings are much nicer than anywhere else.”

“I see. So where the fuck do I come into this?”

Pixis eyes glinted with entertainment.

“The houses here are much more protected than before. So we need you help to get into them. And also, I have some information that you now work as a butler for a famous scientist and doctor.”

It didn’t take many brain cells to click the pieces together.

“Drugs”

“Yeah”

“What if I don’t agree?”

This is what the glint in Pixis eye had been waiting for, obvious because it grew larger than before.

 “Someone might just bribe and tell the military police that an escaped prisoner and a traitor is working at a certain doctor’s house. Wouldn’t be terrible for those people to gain the reputation for housing criminals.”

The usual conversation would go ‘you wouldn’t’ but I had spent enough time with Pixis to know he would happily do it.

“Have we got a deal _Butler_?”

“Fuck you. Fucking fine then. I’ll get your drugs and help you break into people’s houses but don’t you fucking dare speak about me or Erwin or bring any of the Yeagers into this shitty deal”

I could see Pixis giving a step to the side, meaning I was free to go. As I walked past me he shoved a piece of paper in my pocket.

“Not staying to meet your fellow men? Isabel has missed you a lot”

“Fuck you”

I picked up the box I had left before. I had unconsciously remembered little factors of my chase, allowing me to trace my way back. The paper on my pocket felt like it was burning my chest as I tried to ignore it.

I moved back into the flow of the street, moving with the cart and people trying to make myself feel invisible. I was going to betray the new me to the old me.

 

* * *

 

I was a fucking fool to believe that I could escape. They released the shackles from my wrists but I didn’t notice the one on my ankle. With a simple pulls my legs were pulled from under me and I was bowing before them again like some bloody dog.

Fine, I’ll be a dog till the moment you turn you back and I become the wolf, ready to slaughter my prey.

Only then did I realise how close I was to crushing the box under my arm and I allowed the muscles to relax.

I’m already becoming the monster I was for so long.

But this time I realised I was doing it for others, not just for myself.

* * *

 

By the time I had returned I had regained most of my composure, enough for Lady Mikasa not to notice but the way Hanji’s eyes slightly widened when she saw me told me that she knew I was different.

I watched her exchange a glance with Eren. Now I was worried. When the fuck did Eren start noticing changes? He was an airhead and a brat.

I ignored the look Eren gave me, those ocean eyes surveying my face and seemed to beg for me to meet his gaze and allow my thoughts and emotions to be exposed to him.

No.

I met his gaze, a thick grey curtain drawing across my eyes so no emotion or thoughts being able to bypass them.

And in that moment I realised what people said about his eyes. They were eyes of the Earth. Each one looked like a blue crystal during a formation had merged with green one to give a unique and divine colour which would never again be repeated in all humanity. Light hit them and rebound through them like a cut diamond and emotion leaked from them like a broken tap.

And that’s when the betrayal stuck its dagger straight into my side and twisted it.

I held the gaze till his head turned away, to the waiter who had brought him the apple pie and cream.

I released the breath I was so desperately and unconsciously holding in, taking my seat from before and proceeded to keep my eyes away from everyone else’s.

Hanji was using the same technique as Eren used but I didn’t take the bait.

Being carved by the blade of guilt once in a five minute period was enough.

And she got the idea.

I saw her reach over and call over a waiter, speaking quietly in the waiter’s ear, before the waiter nodded and proceeded to wander back inside in reaction her request.

Slowly my mind tuned out to the rest of them. All I knew is that I should be disgusted by the sugary substance dripping down his chin with the cream following but at the minute my lungs lacked air and my muscles lacked power so I just sat with the idea.

And this didn’t go unnoticed by Hanji.

She would probably pry later on, when he had his mind back a little bit and could tell her happily to fuck off out of his business in private.

That’s before the waiter came back with a bottle of red wine and placed it with a wine glass next to Hanji. She poured the glass half full before pushing them towards me with a smile on her face.

“It’s an apology from the staff for the incident on Christmas and your birthday”

I just looked over at her. It should make me happy but it twisted the dagger into my other side.

“75 years old. You said you wanted it.”

My lips twitched gently, wanting to smile but a whole life time of concrete muscles forced it to stay dormant as I gave a nod, speaking finally.

“Thank you. I still don’t understand how all those idiots got white paint on every available space in my room”

Hanji gave out a lively laugh but I could tell underneath it I could tell there was a tone of embarrassment. For my birthday and Christmas present they decided to attempt to redecorate my room. The young master wanted to help but when Hanji said he could get messy so the brat decided to have a tantrum and during it kick a bucket of paint over which fell on Connie where the idiot dropped his. Long story short, there was a chain reaction and I ended up with a room whiter than fucking heaven.

So I pissed. I heard from Hanji I became the devil for the next week and forces everyone to clean the room for five days straight. She exaggerates a lot so I doubt it was for five days, maybe three.

I remember now that Hanji begged me to let her go and the staff from their cleaning torture so I made her promise to get me a 75 year old red wine. I didn’t actually believe she would do it.

That’s Hanji for you.

You never truly know what Hanji will come up with or what’s going on in that mind of hers.

I took the cool slim wine glass into had hand, taking a sip.

The cool rich liquid flooded both my mouth and senses before it disappeared down my throat. There were so many flavours in there, all completing to be noticed and defined. Cranberry was in there, most definitely. Bitterness of it and I could tell it be fermented in a cherrywood barrel. Don’t ask how I know that.

I noticed Hanji looking at my expectedly, her deep brown eyes widened with expectation. The young lord and lady were looking as well.

“It is very nice. Thank you Hanji and I forgive you for destroying my bedroom.”

Hanji gave a satisfied smile before relaxing back into her chair, taking a sip of her gin and tonic. The other two went back to conversing about something to do with Young lord Armin.

I tuned out though, for the time being my mind laid on the wine and once more the invisible object to my left instead of the survey corps and my new second life.

* * *

 

I only drunk one glass of my wine and corked it for later on, placing it in my bag.

The young lord decided we were done for today as we left the café.

There was defeat in his voice. He was defeated because I had successful won the challenge he has issued unconsciously.

Teach this brat a lesson.

His eyes had dulled slightly from the disappointment, like a diamond in mud. Beautiful but dimmed.

Wait. Beautiful?

We soon arrived back at the pick-up point; Jean sat in his usual seat with a newspaper in his hand and a pastry in the other. His lunch.

He noticed up, quickly folding the paper away and places the pastry in the bag before leaping down and instantly opened the door bowing. We all filed in, sitting in our original seats. Not bad Jean. This place is actually tidy to my standards. The seats had been washed and dried, the walls polished and the floor hovered.

The carriage jerked as Jean set off, moving back into the current of transport and heading back home.

One victory and one loss had been gained today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Butler- Levi  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> First Footman- Jean Kirstein  
> Criminal Survey Corps Leader- Dot Pixis


	4. The Lord returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disaster happen. Hell is unleashed. Challenges are initiated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Laptop decided to turn off and delete the first draft so I was threatening not to get this chapter out till Thursday but here it is.^^  
> ⚔ I only been through this once so if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes please inform me.  
> ⚔ I hate Grisha Yeager  
> ⚔Happy reading!  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

Something is definitely up with Mr Heichou. The darkness around his eyes are much more darker than they usual are and he seems more tense when anyone talks to him. I have no idea what is going on but I need to find out. Wait. He has a day off on Monday if I’m not mistaken. He will be going somewhere, and if I’m not wrong to get his hair cut. If I can go with him we could have a talk person to person and get to know him better. Even a little bit.

Right. I need to find Hanji. She’ll help me.

 

** Chapter 3 **

 

Mr Heichou stared at the paper. However glaring at it would be more correct. He hoped deeply that glaring at it enough it would combust into flames and removes its self from existence. But after five minute he realised that wasn’t going to happen.

The Lord returned tomorrow and he was currently holding a paper he was sure was at least a meter long with accidents that had occurred over the past two days.

  * 15 broken plates.
  * One sprained wrist from over polishing.
  * Three pieces of silver wear tarnished from the wrong polish.
  * Seven ruined rose bushes. One of which was rare as fuck.



This list costs would probably add up to more than he earned in a year.

Mr Heichou didn’t need this now. The house was in total chaos and so was his mind, and it was taking a toll on his body. He had attempted to sleep for the last two nights but only ended up grabbing one hour of dreamless sleep and all the others were spent cleaning the cellar and making a check list on the wines the house had and those years that were needed. But no rest for the wicked.

“How the fuck does Pixis sleep then?”

Mr Heichou mumbled this to himself. Just in case a certain ‘ _traitor_ ’ was hanging out the door. He doubted it because Erwin was tending the Young Lord but he had learnt a long time ago not to trust your initial judgement.

His eyes wandered from the list to around the room. It wasn’t what he wanted. There was a large notice board on with picture of them all and notices for other staff. On the opposite wall was a portrait of the Yeager’s.  It was too cosy. Too intimate. Too painful.

The dagger of guilt made another turn in his side and he checked to make sure there wasn’t a physical one there that was causing the pain. Again, his eyes just met his crisp white shirt and empty air.

An apprehensive knock came to the door, drawing Mr Heichou’s attention from the invisible dagger to it.

“Enter”

Connie shaven head appeared once the door was slightly open. He was training to be a footman by Reiner and Jean, and internally Mr Heichou admitted he wasn’t doing a bad job with his training. But the emotion that danced in those golden orbs was dread.

“Mr Heichou… There’s been an accident. The maids were carrying the linen in the basket tipped over...”

“Just wash the clothes again”

“That’s not all of it sir… There was a bottle of bleach on the basket and it smashed on the carpet”

By the time he said carpet Connie was retreating down the corridor before he broke into a full run. Mr Heichou, for his short size, was extremely fast and with the look of scorn on his face Connie prayed to whoever was up there that the demon that was the butler would go upstairs.

He was too young to be dragged to Hell. He had so much to live for.

His prayers were answered. He heard footsteps on the stairs and the creaking of the iron railings signalled he was safe. But he was sure the railings would now have hand grips in them.

Mr Heichou stormed down the corridor, Bertholdt and Reiner catching his eye. They were both a nearly a foot taller than him but the moment they saw the reincarnation of Hell engraved on Mr Heichou’s face they stood to attention, their fist over their heart as a salute to him.

“I want you two to get every member of staff in the main hall in five minutes”

This was a command that echoed from Mr Heichou’s lips. The two stood in place, fearing if they moved without permission they wouldn’t be here to see the sunset. Mr Heichou gave them a non-verbal permission by turning on his heels and stalking down the hall way.

* * *

 

Within the next five minutes every member of staff was stood in the main hall, in row were they were standing to attention with Mr Heichou poised like a serpent ready to strike at any one of them.

“Over a hundred fucking accidents have been brought to my notice and probably a hundred more that you have tried to hide! Now listen to me you incompetent morons I call staff. I will say this once and only once. Today you better not do your job half arsed, or you will find yourself outside that door with the shitist reference you have ever seen.”

All the staff knew he wasn’t joking. He didn’t joke. He was blunt and straight to the point and the words that left his mouth was the truth. None of them met his gaze as he pointed it at each one of you so he continued.

“So I am here to remind you what your fucking jobs are. And once you have been dismissed to do them properly, there will be no job swapping unless you want to be clean out every member of staff’s room for five months. To my standards.”

Mikasa, Eren and Armin were watching over the canopy at the stripping down of their staff. Eren had checked Mr Heichou’s reference and information files more time than he cared to admit but it never stated Mr Heichou was ever in the army. Without this knowledge he would have sure to have guessed that, with the voice that retaliated off the walls and the stone cold eyes that would look so good under a captain’s hat, Mr Heichou had once been a captain.

He instinctively rubbed his arms, noticing thousands of goose bumps had rose from his arm as he moved his hand over them to warm it up, but he wasn’t cold in the slightest. Mikasa took it as cold and grabbed his wrist, trying to pull and usher him into a warmer room but Eren wrapped his free arm around the pillar, refusing the move till the display was over.

Mr Heichou walked past each one of them, daring them to look him in the eye but again, none of them dared too.

“Marco and Sasha, you’ll focus on the kitchen. I want the whole store room cleaned and all the food tallied and ordered. The kitchen will be spotless and all the cupboards and utensils cleaned and ordered.”

“Reiner and Connie, I want every piece of metal in his house polished to the divine standard and any piece of tarnished metal brought to me. Jean, even if you’ve fucked up your wrist I want to make sure they do things correctly or I’ll dock everything they destroy from our pay check.”

Jean gave an audible gulp and his brow frowned at the news. He and Marco were planning a trip into his home town on Sunday and he needed the pay in order to rent some horses and have money for his family. The short bastard was pushing it now but he didn’t dare speak from fear of ended up with a broken wrist and anything else that took Mr Heichou’s fancy.

“Bertholdt and Eld, you two can clean all the rooms of this floor. I want every surface polished, the rooms hovered and everything dusted. Everything must be placed back in their original places as well. This goes for you Oluo and Gunther as well but you will do the upper floor”

“Now you know how to do your jobs correctly I will work a miracle and get this carpet mess sorted out. Annie, I will give you a list of supplies that will be coming in so you can let them in quickly. Everything else that arrives you can deal with.”

With a flip of his hand he dismissed them all, they scrambling to go and complete their jobs before Mr Heichou could be given a chance to fire them. He was left standing, staring at the empty hall with a large pink stain in the middle of the carpet.

One problem sorted.

Three thousand more to go.

* * *

 

By the time the Lord returned everything was to the correct standard.

The old red and gold carpet had been replaced with a blue and gold one two hours after the threat and strip down. Seventeen pieces of metal were tarnished, only one under Jean’s supervision but luckily it was only bronze so didn’t cost that much.

Eren and Mikasa were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, with the staff lined down either side of the carpet waiting for the Lordship to arrive.

Eren kept his eye on the butler; he standing closest to the door. Something had happen in city Sina that had made Mr Heichou harsher and rasher than normal. This was seen with the staff and the people who fitted in the carpet who he snapped at for apparently scratching and dulling the floor boards.

He studied the staff as they all became tense at the sound of crunching of gravel underneath hooves and wheels as it echoed through the door signalling the arrival.

The doors swung slowly open revealing Lord Grisha and seven other people, a mixture of men and women who carried cases with them.

The Lord dark chestnut hair had grown in the past six months, a faint line of stubble developing on his top lip. The usual circular glasses were perched on his nose.

Mr Heichou moved forward, taking the case with ease. He heard the glass vial clink inside which meant-

“Be careful Heichou!”

His thought track was cut off with the Lord’s yelp about his research. He would get the Lord back one day, for his humiliation in front of all the other staff. He met the Lord’s deep brown eyes with his own grey ones and didn’t look away. A challenge. But it was the other staff taking the cases that made the Lord break his eye contact and dismissed the challenge.

Eren and Mikasa noticed the instant tension between their father and the butler. Mikasa simply saw it as a little insubordination. Eren saw it as a challenge. Their father was always away before their mother died and even after he went away for longer periods of time. The staff had taken over looking after Eren and Mikasa but Mr Heichou was always closest to Eren. But by his fourteenth birthday Mr Heichou had drifted away into becoming just another member of staff.

His father tried to act like he should but it had been so long he was just a person Eren would call blood related and that’s as far as it would go.

Lord Grisha looked up, moving his glasses up his nose before moving forward to embrace his children.

Mr Heichou would use the word _awkward_ to describe the hug. It forced Young Lord and Lady’s limbs into weird position in reaction to being suddenly pulled together and they made a small movement to hug him back. Pathetic.

 

He had seen better parenting by the poor bastards who lived in the gutter.

 

He looked to his left noticing Hanji’s hand to come and lay on his shoulder, moving down to his hand to take the case.

She gave him a half smile with a shrug. They had seen this all before, and each time it happened the crack between father and children grew wider till there was no way to cross it.

But unknown to most, the crack was about to get so much larger over the week the Lord would be staying.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
> Lord- Grisha Yeager  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Butler- Levi  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> First Footman- Jean Kirstein  
> Second Footman- Reiner Braun  
> Footman-Connie Springer  
> Chamber Servent- Bertolt Hoover
> 
>  
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
> Young Lord from neighbouring house- Armin Arlert  
> Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
> Valet- Erwin Smith  
> Guard- Annie Leonhart  
> Parlour Servent – Eld Jinn  
> House Servent- Oluo Bozado  
> Between Servent- Günther Schultz  
> Under Cook-Sasha Blouse


	5. Summer's lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer storms are the worst in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Just a simple filler fluff chapter while I figured out the rest of the plot.  
>  ⚔Plot finally discovered and ready!  
>  ⚔Since its just a filler chapter there is no diary entry.  
> Enjoy and please comment/review :)  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

Summer storms were the worst.

The nights were already hot as it is with summer without the storm making the rooms humid and stuffy. Throwing the blanket off was the only relief you could but there is still no release from the heat with the room being how it was. Sweat simply collected on the skin and remained there.

Jean threw off his blanket for the second time, grabbing a towel beside his bed and wipe off the sweat that was dripping down his brow. He had resorted to just wearing his boxers instead of any real pyjamas for the last few nights.

The bed creaked under his weight as he sat up, running the towel over the back of his neck. His skin still felt sticky and dirty but it was better than feeling the actual sweat droplet settled there.

The detonation of thunder roared above the house.

Summer storms were the noisiest.

“How the fuck am I supposed to sleep?”

Jean mumbled bitterly to himself. He forced his heavy body from the bed and proceeded to slip on some black pyjama trousers just in case he came across any of the female staff.

A cold drink was desperately needed by him. Hopefully it would soothe his drenched body and allow him a little sleep.

He didn’t bother slipping on any foot wear, the cold stone felt delectable against his feet.

“Well at least one part of me is cool”

He spoke to himself still, keeping his voice low. The last time he spoke his normal tone the devil of a butler appeared from his grave and nearly smashed his face into next week. Luckily he escaped with a broken nose.

So he had learnt his lesson.

He groaned as he heard the second detonation of thunder. This was going to be a restless night.

* * *

 

He entered the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cupboard before filling it with cold water from the tap.

He downed at least three glasses before his throat no longer felt like sand paper and took one more, drinking it more slowly.

He lavished in the feeling of the numbing coldness of the liquid falling down his throat. The kitchen was much less stuffy than the room. He gazed around the dormant room.

He personally couldn’t understand how Marco could work in this one place all the time. To be enclosed but once he asked Marco before and the reply had been ‘It’s amazing how easy it is to get to places you need to work’

Jean couldn’t really argue with that logic. It took him ten minutes to reach the other side of the house where he was needed and took Marco ten seconds to be where he needed.

That’s when he heard the cough.

With his eyes directed at the door to the staff longue he noticed the flickering ember glow of a fire coming discreetly from under the door.

With his glass of water he moved closer, opening the door.

In the room he saw a mass of brown hair, slightly stuck up from leaning on the worn settee but most of it was neat.

Marco.

“Hey Marco”

The hair moved and twisted as a face came into view; a wide bright grin appeared on the face with the freckles being forced up and a pair of eyes that silently reflected the fire before him.

Fire?

In this heat?

“Hey Marco. You sure half of you isn’t missing? It’s humid and hot yet you’re sat in front of a fire. Sure you haven’t lost half you sense or mind?”

Marco gave a small shrug.

“I never really feel warm, I’m always a little cold but it is humid so I couldn’t sleep”

It was Jean’s turn to shrug as he moved and seated himself beside the curled up Marco. In front of Marco was an open book. What a surprise.

Then he noticed Marco feet fidgeting, rubbing together. He had known Marco since he arrived and he did seem to attract the cold much easier than everyone else and the idiot had decided against wearing any socks full well knowing what his body gets like.

Jean sighed, reaching over and took the pair of fidgeting feet into his hands, onto his own legs before crossing them to trap Marco’s feet between his legs. Marco gave out a little embarrassed yelp from the action, turning away a little with the faintest of blushes on his cheek.

He gave a small cough, moving his feet once to get comfy before trying to concentrate on the book in front of him. It took most of his energy to keep his eyes on the book and not to move his feet.

Jean gave a small smile at the blush. He acted cute and innocent most of the time but he knew Marco had seen things that shouldn’t have been seen. Marco only told Jean once after a nightmare and refused to speak of it again.

It didn’t bother Jean.

From the fact Marco had entrusted him with the information was enough to prove their bond with each other.

Jean watched a Marco ran a tongue over his lips, quickly wiping away any of the excess saliva with the back of his hand before moving said hand to the back of his neck, wiping the non-existent sweat that lay there.

He smiled, feeling the toes between his legs tense and relax now and then.

It was peaceful here. It wasn’t during the day. Most of the servants came in here to mend clothing or give out notices to others so you could never get to sit there with your thoughts and keep them on the right track.

Jean broke the silence, rolling his head on the back of the settee to look over at a concentrated Marco, prodding his side which made Marco release a small manly squeak, before speaking.

“I’ve hired to horses. We are picking them up at the stables beside the public house”

“Oh? How much was it? I’ll give you the other half”

Marco made a movement to pull his feet from between Jean’s legs, obviously to go get his wallet to give the money he owed but Jean held onto his leg causing Marco to throw him a confused look.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s my treat for you. You said the other day you never been to any of the surrounding towns so it is my pleasure to take you there”

Marco recalled that time.

They were sat around the table, again, unable to sleep due to the hot weather and were relaxing with a cold drink of fresh lemonade and were idly chatting away. He vaguely remembered mentioning never being outside the town he worked in, apart from his child hood town, but that was demolished when he was five.

His face flushed with blood again and he rubbed a spot on his arm, trying to get his blood to calm down. He was reading into this too much. Jean was just trying to be a good friend and make him happy. No way could this express any other feelings.

That’s when his heart dropped a little.

He was always fearful of asking if Jean had any other feelings toward him, just in case Jean would take it the wrong way. He was a hot head in a way and charged into everything with a passion and rarely used his brain till after the charge. Which normally was too late.

He was uneasy that this would happen. Jean would go full pelt into how weird it was, or becoming even more aggressive and say words that couldn’t be taken back, rendering their friendship useless and broken.

He refused to let that happen.

“Erm... T-thanks then Jean.”

“No problem. We will go to the stables at eight in the morning then a ride down the main road”

“Alright, thank you Jean.”

“It’s fine like I said Marco. We are close and I like you after all”

Marco instantly tensed at those words. ‘I like you’ just kept replaying him his head.

Jean looked up, noticing the tensing in Marco’s feet and saw those eyes, which had widened to saucers, staring at him. He realised what he had said then.

“Oh shit. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not coming onto you or anything I just mean that you aren’t like the others… Oh shit shit shit.  That sounds even worse.”

A half smile was appearing on Marco’s face. He knew what Jean was trying to saw. He liked him in a friendship way but he didn’t mind watching Jean going all flustered about his mouth moving before his brain.

“I mean, I like you as in like you, not as in _like like_ you. You know? Oh crap, just forget what I said”

Jean slumped back down, his bottom lip jutted out in a childish pout and Marco couldn’t help resist a little chuckle from the behaviour, which made Jean turn his head away from him.

“It’s alright Jean. I like you too. Not _like like_ you. I like you are a good friend”

Jean’s head slowly returned to look at Marco, meeting his gaze. Both their keeps were tinted with red. With Jean’s it was from embarrassment but with Marco, he wasn’t personally sure whether it was from a blush, the fire or laughing at Jean’s display.

Both of them fell back into silence; Jean slumping back into the settee, holding Marco’s feet between his legs with one hand stroking the ankle idly while Marco turned his attention back to the book, wishing for the blush that was currently continuously present to leave his face.

Around five minutes later Marco felt a slight bump on his shoulder, he bringing his eyes back up from the book to see Jean’s head resting peacefully on his shoulder. The face was free from the worry of life and everyday work. Free from Mr Heichou scorn or Young Lady Mikasa’s ignorance to his admiration for her. Free from the dirt of life. And all that was left was the contentment of sleep.

“Oh Jean. I’m truly sorry. I don’t like you. I don’t _like like_ you. I think I love you…”

 The last few words were nothing more than a wisp of a flame, he leaning over a placing a light tender kiss on Jean’s forehead before looking back down to his book leaving Jean to rest in the dream world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First footman- Jean  
> Chef/cook- Marco


	6. Easily protective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 50% Oh fuck what have I done  
> 40% Oh fuck this  
> 8% Lets fucking celebrate  
> 2% What the fuck had happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔Out a little later than normal for today but I was making a cake and had serious writer's block.  
> ⚔Here it is and the cake was delicious :)  
> ⚔I was going to put the scene with Levi and Eren in the actual town but my writer's train of thought had other ideas.  
> ⚔I'm sorry if Petra's character is OOC. Dx  
> ⚔Happy reading!  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

Today you are going to do it. It’s his day off tomorrow and yours is too. Your friend even agreed to allow you to go to their coffee shop and have a secluded place to chat. It seemed Mr Heichou doesn’t like crowds or people so I need to make him feel as comfortable as possible. Maximise the chance of him opening his heart and mind to me. I need to make it look like I have an alternative agenda.

 

Eren POV

He was trying hard. Harder than normal really.

I didn’t truly think he cared about us, well he did but he cared more about his discoveries and his research than actually taking care of his own children. He adopted Mikasa and still fucking pissed off when we needed him.

I slumped against the boat, watching it cause the ripples in the lake to my left as they expanded before hitting the shore line. We were currently fishing, or they were anyway. I couldn’t care less about hooking a bit of metal through another animal’s lip and pulling it from its comfort zone just in the name of entertainment.

Ignoring the glares I received for all my movement from my father and Mikasa my mind wandered towards how Hanji was doing. I had informed of her of my plan this morning when we first met for lessons and she more than happy to be on board with my plan. It scared me sometimes. Hanji just seemed a constant torrent of unneeded enthusiasm or I had heard Mr Heichou once say ‘an excess amount of bullshit energy’.

Hopefully she could persuade him to agree for us to go together. Maybe then I could get to know Levi instead of Mr Heichou.

“What are you smiling for?”

This was Mikasa. My eyelids slowly opened. I never realised I closed them in the first place and saw her less than a foot away from me, staring  protectively with those darkened eyes. She was studying every pore of my face. A bad habit of her but there was no point stopping her no matter how much it annoyed me.

“Aren’t I allowed to be happy?”

Her eyes stopped wandering and snapped back to meet my own gaze.

“You have been complaining for the last hour. You suddenly fell quiet and I found you smiling. What were you dreaming about?”

I don’t know if I didn’t have the heart or I was just a coward to tell her I was thinking about figuring out our butler and that his change in attitude has bothered me significantly.

“Getting off this fucking boat”

“Language Eren!”

This was my father who pushed the glasses up his nose as his eyes turned to glare at me. It was the best threatening father voice he could do and I knew it. And I knew that it was one easy to ignore.

“I’m speaking fucking English. I can’t help it. I want off this bloody boat. Stop acting like a father, it doesn’t suit you!”

His father’s face twisted in a state of rage. One I had seen many times and it had lost all its threat.

“That butler of ours swears a lot when he’s around the other staff. You sure you have not picked up any bad habit from that member of staff.

Now that bothered me. He was right about the first bit. I had learnt most of many curses and swear words and phrases off of Mr Heichou. But the fact my father didn’t bother to use Mr Heichou name and call it a bad habit. That struck a chord on the instrument called pissedoflin.

I can’t remember exactly how I did but all I knew there was screaming, the feeling of movement and then the coldness.

I opened my eyes to find myself treading water, the boat rolled over beside me and my gaze was met with the furious gaze of my family.

I really tried to fight the grin that was creeping on my lips. I really did but it still broke on my face.

I slowly watched Mikasa face began to tug like my own, her lips curling into one of her little smiles. We ignored the shouting of our father.

All I knew that smiling could be truly contagious.

* * *

 

“Oh my goodness. You’re all soaked!”

Petra ran up to the three of them, looking at each one in turn and couldn’t help but notice the smile dancing on Eren’s lips. Their father spoke, in a sort of scolding tone that didn’t really affect neither Mikasa nor Eren

“No need to worry Petra. Just my son acting like a childish six year old and capsizing the boat.”

Petra’s mouthed formed a small ‘o’ and the expression she wore was like a scolding mother but in her eyes there was amusement that she couldn’t show in front of the Lord. Eren saw it and gave her a wink while his father was busying putting his coat on the rack and Mikasa disappeared into the study.

“Tell Mr Heichou to bring me up some tea please Petra”

With that he headed off, ignoring the sound of his trouser slopping against the polished floor. He knew Mr Heichou would have a fit when he saw it but he had just punished his father for speaking badly about him so it was fair.

* * *

 

Mr Heichou was sat at the table within the kitchen, a glass of iced lemonade resting in front of him. It had been the first break he had since he had got up, the Lord making him run around like a fucking headless chicken with pointless tasks that maids or footmen should be doing.

His eye surveyed Marco and Sasha. They were both looking at Sasha’s deflated cake in a dumbfounded way. It was a poor excuse for a cake, wrinkled like a century old orange and flatter than a witch’s tit.

Marco rubbed the back of his neck gently as he moved the cake onto a plate. Personally Mr Heichou would have called it a pancake than a sponge cake.

His eyes flickered to the movement of Marco, meeting his gaze and Mr Heichou’s eyes softened a little. If he had to choose one person who he wouldn’t sacrifice to the devil it would be Marco. He never truly had a problem with Marco.

But Hanji would definitely be the first. He would deliver her himself to the devil personally if it meant ridding her existence from his life. He was going to ignore it but after 300 reasons why he should let the young lord go and 435 begging for him to go, Mr Heichou gave in.

He felt his stomach start to slowly twist with remorse. He was supposed to deliver the first set of drugs tomorrow. That’s the main reason why he could have killed Hanji. She had just missed him coming from the nurse’s office. And she failed to notice a bottle of tranquiliser stuffed down his trousers too. He should find himself lucky really.

He needed to be more careful in reality. If they saw him leaving the room it wouldn’t take Hanji or Erwin long to make a connection to where all the drugs were disappearing to.

‘I’ll have to dump the brat somewhere and deliver these’ he thought silently to himself, rolling the vial full off white pills around within his pocket.

His ears twitched the sound of familiar footsteps coming down the stairs and didn’t attempt to strain his neck looking like the other two did.

“Afternoon Petra”

“Good afternoon Mr Heichou, the young master would like to see you”

“I swear to god I can’t even take a shit in peace.”

He heard Sasha giggling at his sense of humour, her shoulder moving up and down as she tried to hide it. Marco was attempting to give her a scolding look. Personally Mr Heichou thought he looked constipated but he watched as the “constipated” look slowly disintegrated into a smile. He must be happy that Sasha isn’t down about the pancake she made.

Petra on the other hand didn’t seem that worried. She had worked with Mr Heichou all her time here. His crude and toilet ordinated manner never bothered her much anymore. She took down at her toes, trying to keep her mind occupied rather than staring at Mr Heichou running his hand though the to-be-shaved part of his head.

“Erm... Mr Hechiou?”

He swung his head over his shoulder, giving her a side look which she tried to avoid but soon found her gaze meeting his own, and his own eyes seeming to lock her eyes from moving again.

“Sorry Petra. I’ll go up now”

“Oh… n-no that not it.”

Shit. She actually stuttered. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, taking a second before finally speaking in a rapid manner.

“Would you mind me joining you tomorrow? I understand if you want time to yourself and all that but I thought it would be nice for us to have a day out together and get to know each other as people, you know? I know a lovely little coffee shop in the village that you go have your hair done at and my friend runs it and I know she wouldn’t mind reserving any seats for us.”

There was silence as Mr Heichou continued to hold her gaze before closing his own eyes and rubbing the eye lid gently, a sigh escaping them. Petra froze in terror. Had she said something to upset him?

“I could only decipher the first bit, coffee shop and something about a friend? The young master had already apparently booked me for tomorrow for him to go with me. But if we have another day off then I will make sure I mark the day down for us two”

With that Mr Heichou downed the last bit of his drink, moving it over to Marco and Sasha for washing and headed off.

“Also Petra. The linen wasn’t washed properly yesterday. It’s your job to make sure it is done properly. Go correct it.”

Petra could only nod at the command as she heard Mr Heichou steps going up the stairs.

She didn’t know whether to scream ‘YES’, melt into a puddle or treat herself to an alcoholic drink in celebration. As the cloud from his mind lifted she realised one thing.

Mr Heichou had agreed to go on a date with her.

Maybe not tomorrow but if they would do it over winter. During the festivals. They would have warm cider, melted chocolates and then join in the dance which started at night fall. Could he dance? Could she even dance?

Shit, she needed to learn. She didn’t want to make an entire idiot of herself on the first date.

 

* * *

 

Shit.

That was the only way to describe the sensation of staring at the young master first thing in the morning. He was wearing a dark cream colour shirt, a triangle cut out with brown strings attached and of casual brown trousers with his usual brown boots.

He had loved that shirt since he was ten, but it took Erwin and Levi to drag him from his far end causal style to one befitting a young lord. It resulted in both Levi and Erwin getting a black eye from flying fists and a multitude of pranks when they hid the said shirt.

Eren passed one of the reins to Mr Heichou, still holding on even when Mr Heichou took it which awarded him to a scowl from said man.

Mr Heichou gave the reins a hard tug to prove that he had got them, causing the young lord’s face to turn surprised as he felt his body being sudden yanked forward. He quickly gained his balance, shooting the butler a challenging look but within the crystal eyes there was still surprise at the strength Mr Heichou had when giving such a simple tug.

“Here’s the deal Mr Heichou. Now we have no employee and employer barriers on for today so I can now call you Levi and you can call me Eren.”

Eren waited for a reply, his own lips twitching into a smile as he saw Mr Heichou’s left eye twitch at the mention of his name. He would never get bored of that movement.

What he did not expect was the reins to be ripped from his hand, he cursing a little as he rubbed the red line on his hand and looked to glare but realised Mr Heichou was now already mounted on the horse, looking down at the young lord with his thin eyebrow cocked slightly in a questioning gesture.

Eren simply stared at him. The file had to lie. This man was once definitely a captain along the line. The cocked questioning eyebrow, the stern cold eyes and the judgemental face.

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck as he moved to mount the horse, turning to face Mr Heichou when Mr Heichou started speaking.

“Fine then brat”

Eren simply stared at Mr Heich- Levi. He agreed so simply after so long that Eren’s mind didn’t register that he had been called a brat. His gaze followed Levi as Levi turned his horse, digging his heels in the flanks and made a click nose to force the horse into a trot.

“You coming or not brat? I have an appointment and I refuse to be late”

This snapped Eren from his own little world; he stuck his head and followed the same example, encouraging the horse to move a little faster in order to catch up with Levi.

“So where are we actually going?”

“You asked to come and didn’t even know where we were going brat?”

Eren gave a shrug, only just noticing the new nickname he had gained and began to protest and object towards it. Levi knew he should have been pissed off having his only day off filled with the brat but he had yet to feel it. He might actually enjoy today.

Then he realised how wrong he had been when Eren started humming and singing a little.

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
> Lord- Grisha Yeager  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Butler- Levi  
> Housekeeper- Petra Ral  
> Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
> Under Cook-Sasha Blouse
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
> Valet- Erwin Smith  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji


	7. Truth and honest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stories are told, people are protected and an agreement is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ The starting of Ereri. (Finally^^))  
> ⚔ First time writing this kind of scene (not gonna say so go a read!)  
> ⚔ Plot is starting to thicken  
> ⚔ The other characters in this I don't think match any character in snk, I just needed them to help the plot thicken.  
> ⚔ Since this is mainly Levi/Eren based there is no diary entry for this chapter. Sorry =/  
> ⚔ Enjoy and please comment/review :)  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

Fuck this shit.

By the end of the hour horse ride Levi was ready to kill Eren. Not just kill but make sure his vocal cords were snapped beforehand to try and stop the excessive humming and singing (out of tune he may add) to songs. Not even the same fucking song. It was an abomination of ten different songs.

He would rather fuck himself with a cheese grater than take part in this laboured trip again.

But Levi grit him teeth (him assuring himself he needed a new pair after today) and allowed Eren to make monsters from songs.

The town they arrived had the name “Trost”. It was famous for being a resting point for most travellers heading to one of the main cities since it was more or less central to them all.

Levi took a more discreet route, avoiding all the main roads as much as possible since he knew from experience how crowded they could get at this time in a morning. Carts were bulging with every material and food known to mankind and tempers flaring at every word said and movement done.

This one was on the edge of the forest. Eren face was a mixture of confusion about not going where everyone else was going and also one of excitement. Levi noticed the brat constant fidgeting in the saddle and if he had been the horse he would have happily bucked him off half an hour ago.

Levi had almost succeeded in taking the journey without speaking to the brat, allowing a comfortable silence between them but it was short lived.

“A barber does come in once a month to do our hair. Why do you never use him?”

An innocent question in reality but Levi was pissed at the brat being so nosey into his private life. He figured lying to the brat would just make matters worse and ignoring him would result in more breakages of the silence.

“I tried him once and he got my hair style all wrong, the bastard. My acquaintance knows how to do hair properly”

Levi said the last part with a venomous tone. Eren simply looked at him, monitoring Levi’s face closely to see if it actually expressed any of the bitterness. It didn’t. He had been curious since he was young about whether Levi was born with the neutral face or whether something had happened to wipe the emotion away and lock them in a tomb.

One main wish he had as a child was to see Levi smile. He had seen half smiles and smug smirks but he had never seen an actual smile like all the other staff did. The only one who could erect those smiles and smirks was Erwin.

His heart instantly raced up and not for a good reason. He could feel his blood practically smouldering in his veins. He’d admit it. He was jealous. He was informed when he was young that they had come as a pair, and seeing how they interacted he believed them to be lovers even if Levi denied it. It was unfair of their relationship and he was placed a side because they hadn’t known each other as long and there was the class barrier between them.

He was jealous because Erwin could make Levi show emotions no matter how hard he tried him never succeeded.

He was brought back to reality when a shadow passed over his face, he tilting his head upwards to stair of a large marble arch above him with the coat of arms of the town.

His gaze at the arch was brought back with Levi’s voice, he waiting patiently on a corner around fifty yards away with a questioning look.

“Never seen an arch before brat?”

“Stop calling me a brat!”

“Sure kid”

Eren pouted at another nickname he had acquired as he forced the horse into a trot to move beside Levi.

“I’m not a kid… I’m nearly eighteen”

Eren snapped back at him, instantly regretting it when he was rewarded by a cocked eyebrow from Levi.

“An adult wouldn’t capsize a boat when he got told off”

His mouth opened once, closing and repeated the process a few times before Levi spoke again.

“Stop with the goddamn impressions of a gold fish”

Eren gave him a scowl and decided from then on he wouldn’t give Levi the opportunities to insult him anymore.

“So where is this barber?”

His question was silently answered by the movement of Levi’s horse, he forcing it to move onwards down a quieter street away from the bustling centre. Eren slowly shook his head, soon moving right behind Levi as he led the way.

* * *

 

When they arrived Eren instantly recognised the place.

When they were first choosing a barber to come to their home it was between their current one and the owner of the one before him.

This one had turned down the offer since it meant abandoning some of his loyal and existing customers. He never really understood. If he had worked for the Yeager family his name would have been famous and would have so much more customers and money coming in yet he still turned it down and now he saw why.

The barber shop was packed full of travellers, at least ten members of staff working on two different people each and swapping between them. Some were having shaves on both head and face, some just a cut and some shaving the face.

To his surprise it wasn’t as noisy as he would have suspected. The people were having small chats; nothing loud other than a bit of laughter from a couple of chatting partners and the sound of razors against whiskers and hair was abundant though.

He felt a grip on his wrist drawing him from his staring, looking at the hand on his wrist and following the arm to Levi who was giving him the expressionless face that always adorned him with another raised eyebrow.

He released a heavy sigh, gripping the bridge of his nose as his eyelid slid closed in despair.

“Have you never been in an actual barber shop?”

Eren watched as they eyes slowly opened to capture his once more before Eren once more shook his head. Levi tsked before speaking.

“Spoilt rotten brat”

He felt the pressure on his wrist relax and leave as Levi retracted his hand, moving towards a desk left to the door. A young woman stood behind the desk, her head down marking the books and soon rose, revealing a pair of large chartreuse coloured eyes as a delicate smile.

“Been a while Levi. Going in for full treatment or the usual”

Eren watched Levi run his chin, scratching slightly testing for stubble before shrugging.

“Fuck it, full treatment please”

The woman’s grin widened more, she giving a nod which made her blonde bun swaying up and down.

He observed not a single emotion flickered across Levi’s face nor did he reciprocate her smile, just giving a deft nod. Good. At least it proved that Eren was just being treated different but also fuelled his jealousy toward Erwin that he was treated differently in a good way.

He watched Levi turn to him, giving him a signature side glance before speaking.

“Hey brat, you needing anything done?”

Eren looked at Levi carefully, trying to work out if he was joking or not but the eyes were genuinely serious. He slowly stroked his skin, internally damning his body for not even producing one whisker since puberty hit. Hair had grown in other places but all in places he couldn’t show people, which meant puberty fucked up completely.

“No, I was done recently”

A lie. And the way Levi’s eyes narrowed slightly he knew full as well it was a lie but didn’t say a single thing, simply looking forward again and shook his head at the girl.

The woman jotted something down before disappearing through a door behind her. They weren’t waiting long as she returned.

“The owner is ready for you Levi”

Levi gave a curt nod in response, beckoning with his hand over his shoulder for Eren to follow which he did, around the counter and through the door that had previously been used by the woman.

“Look at you getting the royal treatment. The owner himself cuts your hair?”

“He owes me”

“What you do? Got a book from the bottom self that he couldn’t reach?”

Levi knew that was a stab at his height, probably to get him back for the nicknames he has been receiving. He give it to that brat, he had balls. But that game would be played in good time, but not now.

“No. I went and got his daughter back after she was kidnapped. The woman at the desk is his daughter”

Eren gawked at him, searching for his face for any hint of that being a lie but all he received was truth.

“Are you a retired hero or something?”

“Or something”

Eren glanced at him confused at the response but noticed the replies getting shorter, showing him Levi was wanting the talking to stop.

Levi opened a door, walking onto the terrace, shielding his eyes a little from the sun as he noticed the owner beside a chair, currently making the shaving cream.

He wasn’t overly old, but the brown beard and moustache gave him a more elder image. His eyes glittered when they caught sight of Levi.

“Full treatment this time Levi? Still not wanting to grow hair of a man?”

Levi grimaced at the thought. He had too much experience with beard that contained food, dandruff and god knows what else. The thought of it was enough to make the vomit rise to his throat.

“I’d rather lick my own arsehole”

The old barber gave out a detonation of laugh as he moved to grab Levi’s shoulder, practically dragging Levi to the chair and forcing him to sit.

Eren couldn’t help laugh at the sentence too. He missed this side of Levi. Since they had grown apart this side of Levi had vanished, leaving the second lying side. In this side Levi was truthful and honest and downright rude.

But that was Levi.

He watched as Levi stripped off his jacket, it being hung up by the owner before having a black clothing protective thrown around his shoulders.

The same woman from before, the daughter, moved behind Eren and tapped him on the shoulder making him turn in surprise at her sudden appearance.

“Why Levi having his shave would you like to come to the kitchen for a drink?”

* * *

 

A smile quickly replaced his surprised ‘o’ as he immediately nodded in response, allowing her to lead him back inside and to their kitchen.

With a cup of tea in his hand and a directed seat Eren happily sat down at the table, placing the tea on a mat as the woman took a seat beside him.

It had been bugging him since he heard it. This rescuing thing never appeared in the file. This was a secret that no one in the house knew and if he learned then it was something he knew about Levi and he hoped Erwin didn’t.

“So Levi told me he saved you”

This instantly caught the daughter’s attention, she slowly looking up at Eren with analysing expression as she seemed to search him for the truth and trust.

It took her a minute of silence to decide and weakly spoke.

“Yeah… He did”

The lightness in her voice had vanished, replaced mixture of bitterness and satisfaction. Her eyes were distant even though they were focused on Eren’s face.

“Do mind me asking what happened?”

Her eyes snapped back to reality as she stared at him like he had sprouted a third arm.

“My father didn’t have the money to start this business at first, so he took out the money from… some bad people. He built the business and was paying back monthly, never missed but suddenly they wanted double each month. If my father did that then the business could be bankrupt within the first month. He refused to pay double so they took me.”

Her story was broken by a sob, Eren finally pulling from being engrossed in the story to reality as he saw tears falling down her face. He promptly reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and passed it to her. She mumbled a ‘thank you’ as she wiped her tears away.

Slowly she calmed down, giving Eren a small smile that she was better and continued.

“They said they were going to sell me. They said so many nasty things to me. So terrible that could scar any child. After a few weeks I’d given up all hope. Then there was shouting before a voice told me to close by eyes and count to sixty. I was use to doing as I was told by then so I did it naturally. I couldn’t place the sounds when I was younger of what I heard during those sixty seconds but now I can. Bones breaking. When I woke up Levi was undoing my bonds, the guards nowhere to be seen and brought me back to my father.”

Eren remained silent through every second of the story, his eyes at some point drifting to the mug in front of him.

“So my father gives him half off his appointments as thank you but it barely covers what he did for us”

Eren closed his eyes slowly. His thoughts were more mixed than a marble cake. He didn’t know how to feel about Levi anymore. Whether to admire him for helping someone out in such a desperate situation or uneasy at the idea that Levi had power to snap bones of other men in under sixty seconds.

He gripped the cup, drinking the tea to his lips only realising the coldness once it met his throat. The woman did the same, giving a small gasp before chuckling lightly.

“Time for a new cup”

The air instantly lightened at her words and chuckle, the tension and heaviness of the atmosphere suddenly evaporated and taking Eren’s uneasiness along with it.

“If I have time then please”

* * *

 

They did have a new cup and some muffins by time Levi was done.

Levi had already paid for the shave when he went to get Eren and soon left the shop, Eren having obtained several muffins and new information on the daughter’s plans on opening a bakery. Something he would definitely look forward too.

But now a whole new view on Levi. Eren looked at the man on the horse in front of him and no longer saw a butler. He saw a mystery. A puzzle. Something he was determined to solve.

The trotted in silence till Levi dismounted swiftly, bolting down an alleyway.

“Stay with the horses”

Eren realised this was more than a command than asking, he narrowing his eyes. No fucking way was he going to stand still with no idea of what was going on, probably making a complete prat of himself.

He leapt down, quickly grabbing both reins and forced the horses closer to the shop, tying them up and proceeded to chase after Levi in the direction he saw him go.

* * *

 

Eren was sure he was lost after ten minutes of running and had yet to see Levi. How fucking fast could that short arse run? Then again, he had learned that Levi could snap bones so putting judgement on him was a stupid idea.

When he turned the corner he didn’t expect to see Levi and two men. Levi at the time was just retracting his hand and a jar of pills in one of the other man’s hand, Hanji’s writing easily standing out.

“What the fuck are you doing Levi?! You stole fucking pills!”

Eren snarled more animal than human anymore. Levi attention drew to Eren and he noticed the eyes widening slightly at the passion suddenly entering into Eren’s voice. He had been use Eren’s normal voice so long that any others caught him off guard.

The two men though didn’t seem shocked as they smirked, one glancing at Levi while the other reached into his pocket, drawing out a flick knife.

“Looks like we have a witness, and he knows you Levi. Won’t do well for business will it Levi? Jerrod, deal with his bastard”

The man with the flick knife nodded, moving with such speed Eren response only could be was put his arms to where he believed the knife could hit, mainly around his chest and neck.

He waited.

He waited for the feel of cool metal, the slice of his skin and the warm loss of blood.

It never came.

His eyes cautiously opened to a sight of a miracle before him.

The two men were on the floor, Levi in the middle of them.

The knife one, Jerrod he remembered, now had the knife lodged in his shoulder, the nose crooked and gushing with blood as he lay unconscious on the floor.

The other one was curled up in a foetal position, protecting his stomach as blood dripping slowly from his lips and the hair at the base of the skull was saturated in blood from a wound there.

Then he heard an animal growl, more animal than he could ever muster.

“Do you understand now fuck-ups? You have the pills so slither away back to the fuck-up nest you were raised in. Unless you want me to end pathetic thing you call life.”

The conscious one shook his head desperate, whimpering as he uncurled and crawled over to his friend. He shook him hard, trying to bring his friend around but with a pointing cough from Levi the male scampered, abandoning the friend.

Eren’s eyes were drawn back to Levi, who was approaching Eren faster than Jerrod had attacked him and only registered being moved when his back slammed against the wall, Levi’s hands placed either side of his head and only know found they had blood splatters on them.

“You just literally have to shove your fucking head up Satan’s asshole didn’t you Eren? What fucking part of stay with the horses did you not fucking understand?! You have literally just thrown your sorry ass in a pit of demons.”

Eren was surprised he could speak at the moment in time, with everything that just happen and having an animal butler pinning him to the wall.

“What is happening? What the fuck have you got yourself into Levi?”

He was shocked. Not just from his coherent words but also the fact he thought Levi had gotten himself into something against his will and not actually doing it willingly.

He watched Levi’s eyes hold is and slowly the wildness that danced in them shattered like broken glass, his gaze dropping from Eren’s and his head slumped. He noticed Levi’s nails digging into the wall, scratching at the stone.

“My past biting into my ass like a rabid dog that won’t let go. The more I tell you the more you will become involved and I can’t allow that to happen. The result of me failing to do what my past says will result in death for me and another, the Yeager household being tarnished and all your titles and wealth removed and leaving all the staff in ruin. I can’t allow that to happen. I won’t….. So if you know what’s best for you I would quit with the questions.”

Levi’s head rose, the expressionless face had returned, the eyes once more nothing more than a grey fog that blocked everything out.

With the truth out he finally realised how close they were, Levi’s body practically touching Eren’s yet not. This pissed off Eren in a way.

Their faces were inches apart, Eren once more captured within the storm that was Levi’s eyes. He didn’t realise he had leaned forward till his forehead touched Levi’s, feeling the soft breaths escaping Levi’s mouth and resting on Eren’s lips.

Neither moved for a few second, both locked in an internal struggle of sorting out want, need and judgement.

Levi was first to finish weighing up his options and the answer was clear and he forcing onto his tip toes, closing the gap between their lips and pressing them together.

Eren’s were soft, it was to be expected for such young but he tasted the sweetness of muffin tinting the lips which caused him to be drawn closer. It took for a second for Eren to react, leaning down more and demanding more, sealing the kiss as no longer a simple peak.

He expected Levi’s lips to be hard, or chapped due to his age and job but to Eren’s surprised, they were soft and smooth with a hint of mint. As he demanded more from Levi’s lips Levi reciprocate with his own force.

Eren clenched his fist into balls, slowly unravelling them as the rose, placing them on Levi’s chest but didn’t force him away but instead traced the abdominal muscles beneath the thin material, feeling them twitch below his fingertips.

Levi felt the finger tips against his muscles, loving the small touches more that he should and gave his own little teasing, his hand reaching up and cupping his face, moving it to allow the kiss to deepen further than he could imagine.

He couldn’t imagine a more perfect reaction when a moan vibrated through their lips from Eren, one of Eren’s hands running up Levi’s torso and moved around, running his fingers through the shorter hair on his head, enjoying the tickling of the longer parts on the top of his fingers.

This extracted a tiny moan from the dark haired male and sent goosebumps down Eren’s arm. A reaction he had caused and this one beat every single half smile and smirk that Erwin had gained.

Soon the need for oxygen over whelmed their need to stay close, their lips releasing each other from the hold but their hands remained in their original place.

Their faces still faced each other, their shallow pants falling on each other’s faces. If this had been a normal situation Levi would have been pissed off about being panted on but with the sedated feeling to his body it wasn’t registering anything normal.

His eyes met Eren’s. His had changed. The oceanic colour had disappeared and had become more storms like, darkening but not with anger. But with the beginnings of lust.

He had no idea what his own looked like, hopefully normal as he removed his hands from Eren’s face. This brought Eren back to life since he had been distant and motionless (apart from the panting) since the kiss was broken.

He withdrew his hands, moving them to rub his upper left arm as his head fell, looking at a broken crate beside them. Levi had too looked away, in the opposite direction, staring the still unconscious body.

“I promise”

Levi’s head snapped around, confusion falling in the place of peace in his mind as he searched Eren’s face for an explanation. He couldn’t find one but Eren continued.

“I promise not to tell anyone what has happened today but you can trust me. I want to help. If they will hurt anyone who are close to me, whether family or friends I will eliminate them all. I’ll kill them all.”

“What’s the catch?”

Levi had no real idea why he said it. Inside his mind it must have been one of the things he picked up in his previously life and never lost. Something to do with the tone or the words chosen and it meant there was an invisible catch to the agreement.

Eren exhaled loudly, the finger stroking his arm slowly digging in.

“You call me Eren and I can call you Levi, I want to know the truth about you and… I want a kiss each day”

Levi understood the first two demands but the last one caught him off guard. However, this may have caught him off guard but who ever said that meant it was a bad thing. Levi moved away, moving toward the body before walking about it.

Eren’s head turned, watching Levi’s back as he walked away and suddenly feared his demands were too much.

“Wait, we can chang-”

Levi cut him off, looking over his shoulder at Eren.

“Fine brat. But the kissing must be done in private and you need lessons. I think a slobbering dog has more skill than you. Now come on, those horses have probably been bought and sold by now.”

Eren gawked at Levi, forcing his body to move and followed Levi like a little lost puppy.

Their mind simultaneously thought the same thing.

‘ _Oh shit._ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Yep, first time writing a kissing scene and this time I just beg you to tell me if there is anything I need to improve on it. Please!  
> ⚔ Yeah, ereri is finally here (kind of but its a start) but sorry, next chapter you will all hate me for what I am going to do but its all for the plot and it all gets better, I promise.
> 
> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Butler- Levi
> 
> Extra:- (Characters who aren't in snk but needed to progress with plot)  
> Barber Shop Owner:-Dex Elwin  
> Barber Shop Owner's Daughter:- Jessica Elwin  
> Survey Corps member (one with the flick knife):- Jerrod  
> Survey Corps member (one who speaks to Levi):- Erik


	8. Changes and Agreements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bond has been forged from curiosity and understanding and Grisha tries to break it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Little bit late but still on time here!  
> ⚔ I still hate Grisha  
> ⚔ Sorry for part of this but it is needed and it has a silver lining.  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

The horse ride home had taken a turn for the worst. A severe summer storm had suddenly arose from nowhere and released a down pour which Eren was sure was meant to drown them alive.

It vanished as quickly as it came, but instead of breaking away to reveal glorious sunlight to dry them all off within minute it remained cloudy and dull.

Soaked trousers plus leather saddle plus grinding between the two results in thighs rubbed raw which were too tender to touch, never mind walk.

He couldn’t actually dismount the horse correctly, requiring Erwin (much to Eren’s annoyance) to pull him off. But thing had taken a turn for the better when he commanded Levi to carry him to his room and of course he complied.

He savoured the look on Erwin’s face of Levi not saying anything when Eren said his name, even more so when Levi called him by his first name instead of his title. The look which emerged on Erwin’s face was worth more than everything the Yeager’s held.

Maybe the Goddesses were on his side or just a strike of fate but Levi had to use to bridal lift, instead of the fireman’s lift and piggy back as this would mean moving Eren’s legs against the material and causing him pain.

How easily Levi picked Eren up in this way didn’t surprise him. Nothing surprised Eren much anymore about Levi. He only gave out a small gasp and that was due to the pain of his sores being forced and rubbed together.

He had witnessed a side Levi promised to explain to him. One that fermented under the skin, pressure growing and releasing in violent burst. One that he had seen, felt and kissed first hand.

Eren moved his arms slowly around Levi’s neck, tightening around it and ran his finger through the shaved part. Levi shot him a look, warning him to keep his hormones in check but all Eren replied with a mischievous smirk but stopped the rubbing.

He fell limb, resting his head on Levi’s shoulder.

“Thanks Erwin.”

Erwin face went back to normal, giving him a nod.

“Are you coming out for a drink tonight?

Levi eyes furrowed, unable to pinch his nose like he normally does due to carrying this brat.

“Maybe. Who else is coming?”

“Hanji, me, Petra, Marco and Jean if they are back”

Eren gave a deep frown at the two conversations. It pissed him off once more how easily they spoke to each other. A cruel streak ran through his body as he began to rub the shaved line again. He needed to get the attention once more before using the conventional way.

“Earth to Levi, I want to go to my room now. Not when I reach fifty”

Levi and Erwin shared a look, one that couldn’t be interpreted by Eren which made him more agitated as Levi turned on his heel, heading back towards the entrance of the house.

 

* * *

 

Levi submerged Eren into bed of cold silk. Eren lavished in the feeling of the soft bed against the soreness in his back. However his arms refused to move, holding Levi with his back arched over Eren.

Levi shot him a questioning look, those cold eyes locking with the mineral eyes as Eren flashed him a playful smile.

“We kissed approximately three hours ago Eren.”

“I said at least one kiss; I never said just one kiss”

Levi reached up, untangling the finger and hands from his hair and neck and released them, allowing them to flop down beside Eren as he began to mumble curses and arguments about being removed. Levi moved to stand straight back up, looking down at the body sprawled out before him.

“I’ll get some ointment for your sores my Lo- Eren”

Eren grinned like a Cheshire cat, reaching down to undo the button on the front of his trousers, shoving them down partly to reveal the black waistband of his boxers.

Levi looked at him pinching his nose, turning away and swiftly walking right out of the room. This was his fucking day off and he was still pampering to the brats every whim. The voice of the Lord made him stop, turning and bowing deeply before him.

“Is my son back?”

“Yes, My Lord. He had bad saddle sores and I am just getting ointment for it.”

The Lord shot him a questioning glance, not bothering to ask as he flicked away some imaginary dust that had settled on his shoulder.

“Please make him some tea as well. I have some news for him”

Levi raised his eyebrow, letting it drop when the Lord gaze fell back on his face and simply nodded, turning away and stalked down the corridor. Whatever that bastard had to tell it was something Eren wasn’t going to like.

* * *

 

Grisha knocked on the door, waiting for his son’s cheery voice call.

“Come in”

Obviously he wasn’t expecting his father when Grisha stepped him. He was going to question why his son had his trousers off but he noticed the raw wounds between his thighs and remembered what his butler had said.

Eren eyes widened comically wide as he saw his father face instead of Levi’s, instantly pulling his legs together and wincing at the friction between the two painful limbs. He watched his father carefully as he proceed to sit down on the chair beside his vanity table.

Grisha refused to meet his son’s gaze, instead his gaze resting on the picture of Carla on Eren’s bedside table. A few beads of sweat began to slowly appear on his forehead, he patting them away with his handkerchief. Eren slowly moved himself towards the other side of the bed, as far away from his father as possible. He was acting pretty weird. More than weird.

“What do you want father?”

“I have put you into an arranged marriage!”

Grisha blurted out as it synchronised with Eren’s word of ‘father’. The silence was deafening between them. Grisha still didn’t dare look at his son. He knew the look he would be getting. In all his years of living he had never seen a son and his mother look more alike than with his family. It was if his entire DNA had been bypassed when making Eren and just made a clone of his mother. At this moment it was a bad thing. Catastrophic thing.

Grisha mentally counted down, normally taking five seconds for the argument to begin with Carla. He finally found something different between Eren and Carla. Eren temper was a lot shorter than Carla’s.

“What the fuck father?! You think you can waltz back into my life after six months and drop that fucking bombshell?!”

“I believe I can Eren, I maybe away all the time but I am still your father! You have no choice in the matter. In six months you will be married and have an heir.”

“NO. I do have a choice. I refuse to get married to some brain washed bitch who I never even met!”

Grisha leapt out of the chair, bellowing more like a mad boar than a sane human.

“You will you useless asshole. Unless you want to be on the streets fucking several people a night to earn your way.”

It didn’t have the impact on Eren as it should have. Since it was bellowed which simply meant it was an impulse threat. Eren began to slowly grin at the rage filled face that was his father. As the grin grew so did his father rage. He could see the jug that held the boiling mixture was close to over flowing. The grin began to gain traced of insanity till a knock came to the door, both their attentions snapping towards the door.

Both of them tensed as the door knob twisted, the door swinging open to reveal the butler.

Levi surveyed the scene in front of him. The Lord was arched, his fist brought into his chest and his face redder than being splashed with scolding water (he had always wanted to try it. Maybe Hanji would help). Eren was rose to his knees on the bed, his hand in fist brought in at his waist and a grin Levi could only relate to was when he saw the look on a murderer’s face after killing a victim.

“I didn’t know if you could hear me over your shouting My Lords”

Grisha’s stance relaxed a little bit. Really just a little bit as in that his fists fell two centimetres from where they originally were. Eren grin was slowly fading as he took in the figure in the door way.

“Get the hell out of here butler, you aren’t bloody needed at the minute.”

Grisha jaw dropped when Levi’s gaze left his, completely ignoring him, and switched to Eren’s, silently waited for his command. It took Eren a minute to grasp what was going on and internally smiled at the look on his father’s face and for the reason why he had it.

“No. Levi bring me my tea and please rub the ointment into my sores.”

“Right away Eren”

Grisha draw dropped even more at the familiarity of how the butler addressed his son, his jaw moving to work but was but off by a sudden stern voice from Eren.

“It is our agreement father. I called Levi by his first name and vice versa.”

Levi bypassed the Lord, already prepared the tea as he placed it on the bedside, removing the cork of the ointment as he sat on the edge of the bed. Eren sank from his knees, moving so he was laid out once more among the sea of silk.

A faint blush flowed over Eren’s cheeks as Levi gently forced his legs apart to get to the sores, averting his gaze to the tea on the side. He was glad his father though he was straight since this could be seen as more than just a butler doing his job.

He released a gasp of relief as the cold cream met the scolding skin, instantly beginning to soothe it. One of Hanji’s more useful inventions. Saddle sore cream that worked within minutes instead of hours or even days. But he knew within that gasp it was tinted with pleasure.

Those hands were always hidden by gloves, never truly becoming rough with work of any kind so Levi’s skin was smooth which help soothe the sores even more. The nails were cut short, clean and he thanked that. Hanji had done this once before with long nails and it did more harm than good in reality.

He gave a small shiver, hopefully his father thought it was the coldness of the ointment, but in reality he had seen the stone eyes focused on the task of massaging his legs.

Grisha interrupted them with a cough, a small smirk dancing on his lips.

“Here’s the deal then Eren. You agree to this marriage and I won’t fire the butler.”

Both of them froze that instant.

Eren could feel Levi’s finger tips slowly digging into his tender thighs unconsciously as his own fists began to build, releasing a growl at his father.

He had him by his balls now. If he agreed to the marriage then his life would not be his no longer but he could keep Levi by his side all the time but if he didn’t he would have his freedom but no Levi.

“I’ll give you time to think it over Eren. Try to help him Levi”

Grisha waltz from the room, a smug grin plastered on his face and his eyes glinted with a look a predator has when it realises its prey is more weak than first thought.

The closing of the door brought the two back to life, neither of them speaking for a few minutes.

“Do you need me to fill you in?”

“No Eren. I was on the other side of the house and I still heard the conversation between you two. I knew it was a matter of time before it happened. The arranged marriage I mean”

“Did you know he was going to do this?”

“Hand on my heart, no. He told me to make you tea and that he had news for you. The moment I heard shouting I put mint in to calm you down.”

“I don’t think anything could calm me down at this very minute in time”

Eren muttered that, withdrawing his legs to move under him, the ointment already numbed the area and allowed more, thankfully painless, movement.

“So what will you do?”

That was the million pound question. Levi took up sitting on the end of the bed, corking the ointment and wiping the hand on his handkerchief. Eren watched his movements carefully, his eyes focused but distant before he slowly pulled himself from his own void.

“I’ll have to agree. But some new agreements for us.”

“Eren, if this going on any further I’ll have to draw up a goddamn contract to stop any additions”

Eren actually chuckled at this. His whole frustration, thinking and anger dispersed with Levi’s voice as he closed his eyes. Levi hid a small smile, happy that Eren had closed his eyes and by time he opened them the smile was gone.

“Only one addition and a change to a previous one”

Levi released a faint groan at the prospect. He would need to draw up a contract.

“Go on”

“Well the addition would be for you to help me find some way out of this marriage.”

Levi noted this was a reasonable addition. Their situation called for it in reality and he been more surprised if Eren didn’t ask for his help. But his mind set that Eren’s agreements had matured evaporated with the next statement.

“And the number of kisses you have to give me each days increases to three”

Levi snapped his head around so fast he swore he felt his neck crack, staring at Eren who stared just as passionately back. Levi released a growl of frustration before nodding.

“Fine brat. But to improve my side I want an afternoon off a week.”

Eren shrugged, moving onto his hands and knees and crawled to moved beside Levi, swinging his legs over the side and rested his feet on the floor like him.

“Sure, if you don’t mind me accompanying you once or twice in that time off”

Levi rolled his eyes. This brat was going to be the literal and figurative death of him one of these day. He forced his body to stand up, giving a small stretch from being in a weird position when rubbing the ointment and rotated his body to head off.

“I’ll go run you a bath. It’s going to be dinner soon.”

He was abruptly stopped by a hand clenching on his wrist, he giving a side glance at the hand then at the owner of the hand. Eren smiled sweetly, but the devil danced behind that smile.

“You owe me two more kisses. One now and one before bed. Forget the bath for now. We have a contract to be fulfilled.”

Levi looked back at the door, checking it was shut properly and there was no shadows creeping under the door as he turned back around, allowing the brat to tug him back onto the bed.

His shoes got discarded before he got onto the bed, allowing the brat to lead him to the centre where he allowed the agreement to continue.

The last sane (insane) thought that entered Levi’s head was

 

‘ _Maybe this contract isn’t too bad’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Eren may have an arranged marriage but it only made Levi and Eren more determined to get Grisha back. Wooh! Ereri <3  
> ⚔ Back at school now so Truth might be on hold for a while. This will still continue.  
>  Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
>  Lord- Grisha Yeager  
>  Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
>  Butler- Levi  
>  Valet- Erwin Smith
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
>  Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
>  Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji   
>  Housekeeper- Petra Ral  
>  First footman- Jean


	9. Silence and Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's fiancee comes for afternoon tea and Levi nearly breaks a chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ I'll add the character Eren is engaged to next chapter so you still need to read to find out!  
> ⚔ I knew what this chapter was going to be but didn't know how to write it. A different type of writer's block maybe?  
> ⚔ I honestly do like Isabel as a character^^  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

Levi couldn’t stand morning breath.

By the second day of their contract he regretted the insane decision of allowing a kiss at each section of the day. The morning one most definitely.

By the third day he was forcing Eren to chew on mint leaves before they kissed. Eren had attempted to defile Levi but Levi reminded him that their hands were cuffed together for a while so would have the attempt to stay on the same level, which meant obeying each other.

This morning Levi had snipped a leaves or two from one of Hanji’s plants (that she talked to everyday. Poor plants, they can’t run away) that was marked apple mint on the plant pot.

He watched as Eren pouted putting it into his mouth (he had tried to hide it under his pillow once before so Levi wasn’t taking any chances.)

Eren’s face scrunched up at the sudden taste that invaded his mouth, expecting the bitterness of the peppermint to set his mouth alight but was subtly surprised to find the flavour being much mellower with the hint of autumn apples.

He turned his head to look at Levi as he checked his notebook. They still went through the routine but he made Levi get him up earlier so their kiss wouldn’t make them either of them late and suspicious.

“You have a lesson with Hanji today at 11am while 12pm. Then your fiancée is coming over for afternoon tea with you”

Before Levi had even finished his sentence Eren released an exaggerated groan and disappeared under the mountain of pillows and blankets.

“I will be unable to attend your meeting to serve afternoon tea. It is my afternoon off”

Eren immediately sprung from his hiding place, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and stood up and crossed his arms with a huff.

He removed a napkin from his plate, pushing the chewed leaf into it using his tongue and discarded it in the bin beside him before rolling his head to look at Levi.

“I’ll forgive you for abandoning me if I get an extra-long kiss”

Levi raised his eyebrow, the cold eyes watching Eren’s movements closely before meeting his gaze as he spoke.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out his silver pocket watch and clicked it open. They had ten minutes before Erwin would start wondering.

“Ten minutes we have.”

“Good enough for me”

Levi slipped off his gloves (Eren complained about not feeling his hands properly with them on) and placed them neatly on the chair.

He advanced towards Eren, placing his thumb on the pink lips and caressed the bottom lip gently, his eyes widening slightly when the tip of Eren’s tongue appeared between the lips and flickered the tip of his thumb.

Levi watched the tongue flick then disappeared back inside. Normally having someone else’s saliva on him would cause him to go wash his hands thoroughly but he knew his own tongue would soon be in the same state, it didn’t bother him as much.

He placed a hand on Eren’s chest, forcing him backwards till the edge of the bed hit the back of Eren’s knees and caused them to buckle him onto the bed.

“Come on Levi, I hate waiting”

* * *

 

Eren POV

Erwin had pretty much forced me into a proper suit for the meeting of his fiancée. I don’t even want to fucking marry her so I don’t care if I look like a ‘bag of potatoes’ as he put it. However it was much more eloquent then Levi’s ‘bag of shit’.

After an hour’s worth of throwing arguments back and forth at each other he threatened to go and get Levi. I knew if I was the reason that Levi’s work of interrupted then he would physical force me into the suit, not caring for my own comfort.

At the current moment in time I was stuck in a two piece black and white suit with a black tie as well. I almost had my hair slicked back into something more ‘formal’ but after several attempts and several ducking and diving he gave up. Victory to me.

Mikasa and Armin had abandoned me for the day (I had a feeling my father had helped this occur). Mikasa had gone hunting, which meant deer and duck for the main meal tonight and Armin was in the city with his adopted grandfather so it meant I was on my own with my own wits.

Well good luck to me.

I have had at least five meeting prior to this, mainly for afternoon tea like today. Since one of my arguments is that I didn’t know her my father decided to set up all these ‘dates’ so we could get to know each other.

Not like it mattered. You could tell by the looks she gave me that she rather be shovelling horse shit than be seated with me. The feeling was very much mutual. But she never said anything (probably due to one of her body guards being by her side at all times), so neither did I. It’s not like I was going to touch her. I had a contracted butler who I could touch all I liked.

Normally I had him beside me. It brought a sort of protection of him being close by. The guard towered above him but I’m pretty sure Levi could take him out and still be able to serve tea a few minutes after. Unfortunately the bastard had abandoned me. Again, the same idea that my father was involved crept into my head.

I sat down on the bottom steps of the main stair case, much to the scolding I got from Erwin and Petra who were more worried about dirtying my suit than my own comfort.

The dreaded sound of carriage wheels and horse shoes against gravel filled the air as I was pulled to my feet by my father. Erwin quickly brushed my suit down as the door opened, my fiancée parading into the room followed by a female body guard this time.

I contemplated pretending to faint from the heat to avoid this but with Hanji close by he knew it wouldn’t work.

I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to flee back to my room. To shove this wedding directly in my father’s face. But a deal is a deal.

I felt my father’s hand against the small of my back, forcing me forwards to go address her. I grudging did so and proceeded before her.

She was shooting me with different glares but all meant the same.

"Young Lady Brzenska, how nice it is to see you again”

I extended by hand for her to shake it. It really wasn’t nice to see her again but he had been compelled to attempt to be a gentlemen. Plus the fact Levi threatened to tear his balls off if he fucked up his meetings beyond belief. He rather stay intact, at least till he wasn’t a virgin.

“The feeling is mutual Young Lord Yeager”

Rico Brzenska was my fiancée. Daughter of the Lord who created legal drugs and who employed my father to find new ingredients in far off lands to make them superior to the previous and other companies.

She wasn’t spoilt, Maybe she was but she didn’t act like she was spoilt really (Not if the diamond necklace showed anything).  

She reluctantly took my hand, holding the tip of my fingers and gave it one shake before withdrawing her. I was tempted to roll my eyes but didn’t bother. It would only cause fucking arguments that would end up coming the Levi’s attention.

He offered his arm to her, which she placed just her hand through it and held on with the fingers. I wasn’t a disease ridden creature. I was scrubbed till my skin was on fire thank you very much. I am fucking _clean. If I can meet Levi’s standard then I can meet yours easily._

I lead her to the patios which lead to the North of the garden, sitting down as the Reiner and Bertholdt moved us under. Two glasses of iced fruit punch were already made.

Thankfully my father had vacated his post, hopefully for the whole afternoon. Erwin had wandered off to do whatever the fuck he did when he wasn’t dressing me and I knew Hanji was close by to keep an eye on me.

The body guard had tagged along as well, now leaning on the stone wall which surrounded this part of the patio but even with the relaxed posture her senses were on high alert.

“Is your body guard new?”

Rico didn’t even bother to move her head, still watching the gardeners at work. This pissed Eren off to no end. He wasn’t even worth the energy for her to move her head.

“Yes, her name is Isabel Magnolia”

Something began to itch in the back of my mind. Like a small memory trapped and was trying to be released without avail. I chose to ignore it. I needed all my wits about me if I was to survive this meeting.

“Pleasure to meet you Miss Magnolia”

Said woman turned her head to me and gave spirited smile, raising her hand and gave a little wave. My whole muscles gave a relaxed movement. Finally someone who could actually take time and energy to realise I was there.

My eyes flickered to Rico. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, obviously seen our interaction but again she didn’t say anything. She rose her hand and moved her glasses back up her nose.

 

* * *

 

Still Eren POV

The afternoon was same as the other we had done. A few questions with one word answers, silence while eating and Hanji attempting to liven things up between us.

So far I learnt that she didn’t like roses, the colour brown or dogs.

Remind me to invite Armin over and introduce him and his pet dogs over next time she is here.

Isabel was my saviour this time. When Miss Energetic had left to do whatever the fuck she wanted to do I finally got some communication I had been striving for from her.

I do admit she was pretty. I leaned more towards men but even I could admit she was pretty.

* * *

 

No Longer Eren POV

Levi returned from his afternoon off through the servant entrance, declining the offer of dinner from Marco which resulted in Sasha being more than happy to have his portion.

He slipped into his room, removing his travelling coat and favoured his more formal jacket to go and visit Eren in.

When he arrived he gave his usual deft knock to the door, waiting for the drowsy voice of Eren to allow his entrance.

“Come in”

Levi did so, closing to door slowly behind him and noticed Eren sprawled out on the bed, a blanket wrapped around one leg while several pillows cover his other and his chest.

“How was your day Levi? Did it make up for abandoning me?”

The left side of Levi’s lip hitched up, giving him a half smirk before proceeding to talk. He moved to seat himself on the chair beside the vaity table.

“Never in a million years Eren” The sarcasm dripped from each word, along with the role of the eyes.

“Where did you get to?”

Eren ignored the sentence laid with sarcasm. He would have to get use to it if he wanted to know the proper Levi and know the one with the white gloves and tea.

“A friend of mine owns a tea shop. She had a new shipment in so I was allowed to go try some out”

Eren turned his head over the Levi, watching the tongue of his butler dart out with memory of the pleasant taste of different teas on his tongue.

“You’ll need to show it me sometime”

“Of course Eren. So how was _afternoon tea_?”

Eren arched his legs, forcing an avalanche of pillows and blankets as he crawled from his soft tomb, sitting crossed legged upright.

“As exciting as being constipated.”

Great. He was picking up phases only Levi would use. A small smirk was dancing on Levi’s lips from the phase, causing a faint redness to spread over Eren’s cheek and his attention to be drawn to the large window.

“She had a new body guard as well. When she fucked off to do whatever she does we had a chat. Her name is Isabel Magnolia”

There was a crash, Eren’s head snapping towards the sound as he saw the vanitiy chair tossed backwards on the floor and a very rigid Levi.

Those cold eyes were concentrated on him, the only small pupil constricted further as they were lost within the darkness of the iris.

“What was that fucking name?”

Fear began to slowly inject Eren’s mind, he forcing his body away. This was the Levi that had saved him but nearly killed him as well.

“I-Isabel Mag-gnolia”

He berated himself for stuttering but under these circumstances he was in full right to do it. Before him was a man that could take down two armed men within a minute and still be ready to fight more.

“It might not be the same person Levi…”

Levi blinked once, the pupils slowly expanding back to the normal size but his body remained rigid as if some kind of threat had filled his body and senses.

“Red hair in two pony tails, pretty with green eyes. Looks like she can hold her own. Very cheerful and energetic, quite chatty”

Eren listened to the description. His eyes widened with each passing word till they were comically wide. He looked down at his whitening knuckles which were unconsciously crawling at the sheets.

“That was her… Who is she?”

Levi was silent, moving around to right the chair and proceeded to sit on it. He ran his hand through his hair, it falling back into place. Normally this would turn Eren on to no end but in the current situation he knew better than to let those ideas to fall into him head.

Levi didn’t reply for a while.

After five minute with his head still dropped down he muttered, just audible for Eren.

“She’s my little sister”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Yep, Rico is his finacee. Only chose her because she distrust him in the manga/anime so perfect person to not like Eren!  
> ⚔ Who knows? Isabel might either be Levi's biological sister or not.
> 
> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Butler- Levi  
> Eren's fiancee- Rico Brzenska  
> Rico's bodyguard (Levi's sister)- Isbael Magnolia 
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
> Lord- Grisha Yeager  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Young Lord from neighbouring house- Armin Arlert  
> Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
> Under Cook-Sasha Blouse  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> Housekeeper- Petra Ral  
> Valet- Erwin Smith


	10. Loyalty and Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren is an idiot and Hanji is smarter than the average insane person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Decided to involve more characters this time, give Levi and Eren a break after all they been through!  
> ⚔ This chapter is written on my train of thought, had no idea what to put into this chapter but I think it turned out good^^  
> ⚔ Erwin might seem a bit OOC. Well wouldn't you if you are faced with insane Hanji?  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

“S-ister?!”

“Keep your fucking voice down brat”

Eren’s mouth shut with those words. Levi was refusing to meet his gaze still, keeping it focused on his clenched hands on his lap.

“She doesn’t look like you. She was really pretty”

Eren didn’t realise how that actually sounded when spoken but the way Levi slowly raised his head, those eyes shooting daggers at him. Eren instantly held his hands up in submission.

“That came out wrong. I can call you pretty if you want”

Levi tsked at the idea. Only guy who called him pretty was a bastard that mistook him for a girl while he was in the Survey Corps and attempted to grope him after. He ended up with a jaw that had a constant slant and short term memory loss. It would have ended much worse if Farlan and Isabel had not pulled him away.

“No thanks. And Mikasa doesn’t look like you”

“But we aren’t…”

The words clicked in Eren’s head. Not related. Now he looked like a real idiot. A faint blush fell across his nose, he bring his knees up to rest his chin on.

“Did you meet within the Survey Corps or before?”

Eren recalled the (short) summery Levi had told him about the Survey Corps, what they did and who they were but that was it. His attention was drawn back by Levi’s voice.

“Before. Then after the incident I told them I never wanted to see them again and left the Survey Corps and them”

Eren tried to read Levi’s eyes. Over the last few days he had concentrated on seeing tiny things that changed with his mood. The pupils slightly dilating, the iris going more blue or grey and the stress lines that came around his eyes.

He honestly couldn’t tell. The stress lines were there and from this distance he could see the colour nor the pupils but his gut was twisting slowly with anxiousness.

“She’s not gone straight. Someone is pulling fucking strings”

“How do you know?”

Levi glanced up at him, their gaze meeting part way as Levi released a sigh that sounded like it had been resting on his chest for a while.

“Because when I was cornered and threatened by them the leader mentioned about Farlan, my brother, and Isabel wanting to see me. And plus the fact if you leave willingly then you are found dead three days later”

A silence fell between them. A question remained hung in the air like a thunder cloud. Why was Levi still alive? By the breaking of their gaze on Levi’s side, it was obvious it was not to be voiced.

“Was she okay?”

Eren eyes widened at the question. It was so simply but falling from his lips it seemed to say more. It didn’t help with the tint of concern in his voice.

“If you mean whether she was healthy weight, well-muscled, not pregnant and a healthy colour then yes, she was okay. Everything was in proportion”

The glare that was sent his way could freeze anything if it was possible. One similar to the ones he gave people who were looking Mikasa up and down. Then he realised what he said.

“Oh. Shit! Wait, I wasn’t checking her out or anything! I was just…erm…I was saying…please don’t murder me…”

Levi looked at him, watching the stupid brat’s brain fail him once more. His glare was simmering down now, a small smile fading on his lips at the beg but vanished within a second.

He stood slowly, striding over to Eren and with a forceful shove forced him onto his back.

“I’ll forgive you this once Eren.”

He placed a hand on his knee, mercilessly squeezing the pressure point which made Eren release an accidental whimper in pain.

“But if you start checking out my little sister again, whether she is my enemy or not, I’ll make sure you never see the light of day again.”

He applied a little more pressure and watched the brat wriggle underneath him, his hands clasped around Levi’s in an attempt to pull off even though he knew he had no chance against an ex-member of a criminal organisation.

Eren face was twisted in pain, small pants coming out as he dealt with it.

“I promise”

As soon as the words left his mouth the pressure was removed and he gasped in relief, rubbing his knee with his left hand with tears in his eyes.

But he understood Levi’s threat. Whatever his past with Isabel and this Farlan contained, it was obvious deeper than simple division between them. A new level of loyalty. One that Eren hoped to achieve.

“It’s good to hear she is okay.”

Eren watched him carefully. He saw a smile tugging at Levi’s lips which caused a large grin to break out on his face. He slid off bed, wandering over to Levi and wrapped his arms around Levi’s neck. He felt the muscles tense under his skin.

He leaned forward, whispering gently into Levi’s ear.

Instantaneously Eren was crouched on the floor, holding his nose as blood dripped down from and groan with Levi stood and heading towards the door, grumbling to himself.

“I’m not cute”

Eren sniggered, flinching at the pain in his nose. It was truly worth it.

Outside the door Levi leaned against the wall, running his hand slowly down his face as a smile developed on his face, a small redness over the bridge of his nose. He hoped it would go down soon.

* * *

 

“You have an expression”

“You won the fucking noble prize for observation shitty glasses”

Levi downed the last part of his wine, licking his lips slowly to savour the taste.

“I think Eren is a new medicine. He’s curing your face paralysis with ease”

The temptation to throw the wine bottle at Hanji’s head was unbelievable but knowing his luck it would just make her more insane. No one needed that.

“Whatever”

Hanji simply giggled at his response and leaned back into her chair, forcing it back so it began to rock since she knew it pissed Levi off.

However it was obvious Levi’s mind was else were because he only glared at her and didn’t say anything. He drummed his fingers on the table, his eyes narrowing at his own train of thought.

He was torn between not wanting and wanting to see his siblings. Would they still want him to be her big brother? After what he said to them he wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. After all those years and when his temper reached his still couldn’t control it.

“You look constipated”

Levi head rolled to look at Hanji, taken back by the demonic gleam in her eye, the other blocked by the reflection on her glasses.

“You look insane”

They held each other’s gaze for a minute, an understanding passing between them before they broke it. Hanji’s eyes lost the gleam but Levi knew it was under the skin, ready to appear when commanded.

There was a silence between them, broken only by the sound of Marco entering the kitchen. He made a surprised squeak when he saw the two sat at the table and held onto the bags of food he was carrying more tightly. Levi didn’t bother to look at him but Hanji sent him a reassuring smile.

He gave a smile back, relaxing a little bit but kept his distance from Levi, placing the bags down as Sasha copied the act.

“What do you think Young Lady Brzenska?”

All of them stopped what they were doing, staring at Levi who continued to stare at a coffee stain on the table. It was Marco which spoke up first.

“She seems alright. She is a big critic though”

He winced at the memory of her destroying the reputation of his Dacquoise, complaining about the eggs used not being the freshest and almond not being shelled properly.

A glint of curiosity came to Hanji’s eyes. She never known Levi be this curious what was going on upstairs. She smiled before speaking.

“She doesn’t like Eren but I think she’s good for him. She sophisticated and pretty rich as well.”

Levi’s eyes glided over to her, giving her a side glance when she finished speaking. The advantages to this marriage were perfect. Eren would get money and an heir. He wouldn’t be able to get one if he and Levi were together. _Wait… Where the fuck did that idea come from?_

There was silence, Levi frowning and looking over his shoulder at Sasha putting some plates away.

“Hey, Sasha, I asked you a question”

She released a squeak, nearly dropping several plates but with her usual accuracy she caught them, giving a sigh of relief that no more money would come out of her wages.

“Sorry Mr Heichou, I didn’t think you were asking me. I don’t really like her. She ignores the Young Lord, criticises masterpieces and talks down to us all”

She was quiet when speaking, almost fearful of giving her opinion even when asked.

Levi simply nodded his head, picking up his wine bottle and glass and put them both to be washed. Sasha waited silently for a verbal response, putting the plates down to avoid an accident.

As Levi walked away he called over his shoulder.

“One more thing. Sasha”

“Y-yes Mr Heichou?”

“You can have double the portion of meat tonight”

He disappeared down the corridor and up the stairs and Sasha’s mouth dropped and even Marco seemed surprised.

Sasha slowly went from shock to ecstatic; quickly doing all her job with no accidents to make sure she was on Levi’s good side for the rest of the day so she could she keep the double portion of meat deal. It was beef tonight as well. This was a good day for her.

Marco glanced over at Hanji, trying to get some explanation about what had just happened. The reaction was a shrug as she watched where Levi had disappeared to, smirking slightly.

“He obviously doesn’t like the Young Master’s fiancée”

 

* * *

 

Erwin winced as he felt the needle enter his finger for the fifth time.

How the fuck did the Young Master manage to tear this jacket. He wore it once a week and even then it was only for two hour each day when they would go to pray.

“You should try a thimble or you can a new pincushion as your hand”

He glanced over at Hanji who was leaning against the door way, arms folded and a smile that looked warm and comforting but actually meant she wanted to ask questions.

“Okay Hanji, thanks for the advice. Now if you want to ask questions go ahead.”

He watched her check the corridor ad close the door. His eyebrow furrowed greatly and his eyes must have scream from confusion since Hanji got straight to the point.

“I think Levi has stolen some pills”

Erwin blinked at her, following her every movement as she moved to sit down before him, pulling her chair in.

“Where the fuck has that come from Hanji? He never would do something like that!”

Hanji was silent, her gaze down at her thumbs and he knew this was serious. She wasn’t looking insane to the eye but that’s when she was.

“Keep your voice down Erwin. This Levi wouldn’t but the old Levi would”

Silence fell between them, his eyebrows relaxed back to normal but he mouth remained agape. Yes, the old Levi wouldn’t have but this wasn’t the old Levi.

“He’s been straight for sixteen years. Well not _straight_ but straight as in keeping his hands clean”

Hanji raised her head, meeting his gold gaze and held it harshly before speaking.

“If something happened concerning the Survey Corps then Levi may have been forced into action.”

It seemed a liable reason. Last time he checked large-scale criminal organisation didn’t tend to let people walk free for the rest of their lives.

“The Young Lord maybe involved as well”

“That’s going too far Hanji”

Hanji reached over, pulling the jacket off Erwin’s hand and placing it away from them, giving her his full attention.

“You said it yourself. There in first name terms. Something happened to make Levi change his mind. There’s the twenty minutes or even half an hour time they are spending together morning, noon and night.”

“But…erm… that doesn’t mean…”

Erwin’s speech mumbled down into silence before he looked up at her.

“We will need to catch him in the act of taking some. You have to monitor everything a lot more”

Hanji gave a smile, a glint in her eyes.

“Don’t worry _Commander_ , I’m already in process of doing that”                     

She rose to leave, stopping as she looked at Erwin collecting the jacket and put thimbles on all his fingers.

“And personally I think Eren and Levi have the hots for each other”

Before Erwin could reply Hanji was gone from the room, the door slowly swinging on its hinges as he groaned, moving back to work on this stupid jacket.

Hanji was probably right, about the old Levi making an appearance and definitely not about the attraction between the butler and the master.

He knew a broken ruler was straighter than Levi but it felt weird that the Young Lord was marrying a woman. Then it snapped inside him head.

Levi had been asking questions about the business that her father was in.

_The old Levi was here because he needed to find information out about the business to try and black mail them into dissolving the arrange marriage and break bones to get it if he had to._

_Old Levi wasn’t here to get pills are anything._

Internally he wanted to believe it but the idea of the Survey Corps kept leaking into his mind.

He released a heavy sigh, feeling his stomach growl in complaint of missing food.

“Where do _your_ loyalties lie Levi?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Butler- Levi  
> Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
> Under Cook-Sasha Blouse  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> Valet- Erwin Smith
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
> Young Lady- Mikasa Ackerman  
> Eren's fiancee- Rico Brzenska  
> Rico's bodyguard (Levi's sister)- Isbael Magnolia  
> Levi's brother- Farlan Church


	11. Deception and Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren wants to see a whole Levi and Hanji comes up with a new plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ My cold has finally started to clear up to the point I can remember what I have written and correct it :)  
> ⚔ I wrote this chapter in two halves and luckily they flowed well :)  
> ⚔ Erwin still might seem a bit OOC. Well wouldn't you if you are faced with insane, pissed off and planning Hanji?  
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

_**Levi POV** _

The blood dripped slowly from my clenched hand, the droplets forming a pool on the moss covered cobbles of the back streets of City Rose.

The pile of flesh in front of me was grunting in an inhuman way, his broken nails scratching hopelessly trying to get a form hold to crawl away from me.

My foot shot out, smashing onto the wall beside his fallen head which caused it to shot up and he looked at me. Well his face was point in my direction but his eyes were too swollen and leaking blood to be any proper use.

The scraggy brown hair was drenched in the blood. The dripping from his hair were the sound that filled the decaying street.

Busted eyes opened a tiny bit, the once ocean eyes were now dying red, that determination once burning it stolen by me.

He probably be eaten by rats with a few hours.

I stood back to admire my handy work on my ex master.

 

Head cracked. Check.

Leg snapped in half. Check.

Other leg’s knee cap busted. Check.

Finger broken. Check

Face swollen up above recognition. Check.

Heart broken. After all that I hope it is, Check.

 

I sat up with a yelp, my fingers dug into the flesh of my arm as blood trickled down it and off my arm that was laid over the side of the bed.

I laid back down, ignoring the pain as I drew my finger nail from my flesh. Now my mind was fucking with me. Yes, the old me had done that before but that was fucking uncalled for to put Eren in his place. That guy was rapist and a slave trader. He deserved for me to fuck him up and leave him for the rats. Eren wasn’t the same.

I realised now I had the image of Eren like that it would linger for a few days. At least this was a sign that I wasn’t completely my old self. My old self would have shrugged it off and forgot about it.

I couldn’t hear any birds outside yet so it was not yet morning. Great. My actual full working day and my mind had decided to bring up the bastard past.

Thank you brain. Fucking thank you.

I scolded it for about five minutes before heaving my heavy body from the bloody bed (literally bloody from my own blood) and moved to my water basin.

I dipped the cloth into the basin.

Good. I needed to keep awake and active. I pulled the soaked cloth over my arm and the wounds. Fucking hell they were deep. Looks like my body didn’t enjoy the dream. Well same body, fucking same.

Once I had cleaned the sweat and blood I moved to get out the first aid kid hidden under my bed. I think I put it there in case the Survey Corps went back on their word to leave me alone and I need to fix any injuries from the people sent to kill me or take me back.

Anyway, it was useful now. I winced at the alcohol when it touched the marks. I cleaned it thoroughly before bandaging up. Erwin, Eren or Hanji would probably point out any red marks that appeared so I had to be careful.

I checked my arm for movement. The pain sparked when my arm was pulled right back so hopefully that wouldn’t happen today nor would Hanji’s death grip on it.

No way was that woman normal.

I got dressed regardless of the time. If I went back to bed then that dream would return and just fuck me up further.

I left my room full dressed, not hearing any movement from the other rooms and headed towards my office when a flash of a shadow at the top of the stairs made my head snap that way.

What moron tries to steal from this house?

The same moron I called Eren when I saw a head bend down and a mop of dishevelled brown hair came into my view.

I released a calm sigh. Having someone I would have to disarm is the last thing I wanted to happen after that dream.

“Levi?...”

His voice was obvious laced with tiredness from the quietness but seemed he understood that others were still asleep. I watched Eren walked slowly down the chair, holding back a smirk at the shocked face he kept pulling when his bare feet met the cold stone of the stairs.

“Are you okay Eren? It’s three in the morning”

“I couldn’t sleep so I came down here to see if I could get a hot drink”

“And who would be up at this hour to make you it?”

“If I’m not dreaming then you are.”

I feel silent at that, looking back down the corridor then back at him.

“Touché brat. Come on then, I can’t sleep either so you’re in luck”

I didn’t bother to wait to see if he followed me as I headed towards the kitchen, taking the matches from my pocket and lit the smaller candles around the kitchen.

I lit the gas hob, placing a kettle full of water on. When I turned to get the tea leaves I heard the chair scrape against the floor, my eyes drawing to the slumping figure in the chair.

“You had a nightmare again, didn’t you Eren?”

I had my back to him now, knowing he would never admit while I faced him. I could hear his breath hitch behind me, proving me right without him even saying anything.

“Yeah. The usual one”

Ah, the usual one. This brat had watched his own mother broken in half by a collapsing building as he ran away to save him and Mikasa. Some nights it was all of them being crushed and some night it was just an enactment of it. Whichever it was it always caused him feel useless and 10 years old again.

And as the only person Eren seemed to trust it fell to me to make sure his emotion and mind remained stable. But hearing the soft whimpers behind me made me doubt whether I did the job right.

“Please don’t tell me this is the time you normally get up Levi?”

I glanced over my shoulder and regretted the decision instantly. Eren was watching me intently, those eyes (which were currently more blue than green) boring holes in my back. But his eyes weren’t the thing that got me.

It was the way he sat, his knees curled up to his chest, his chin and mouth hidden behind them and his arms securely wrapped around them. Maybe I was getting soppy and weird but it felt I pang of pity for him.

I hate this brat some times.

I forced the chamomile tea in front of him, taking my seat across from him and gently drank my own coffee. He was still gazing at me as he reached for his own cup.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to answer my question?”

I stopped drinking my coffee, looking over at him like his face could remind me of his question.

“Why I was awake?”

“Yeah”

“Usual nightmare”

I left it at that. I didn’t get nightmares, I rarely dreamed much anymore but I have the odd one. My gaze hardened as he opened his mouth to speak, closing off that conversation before it had chance to start.

We drank in silence for a while. Not an awkward silence, nor a tense one. It was comfortable.

“Will you ever tell me who you really are Levi?”

Our gaze met once more, his head tilting to the side in a question manner but fucking hell it was cute.

“No.”

Eren looked astounded from my blunt rejection. Can you blame him though? But that, with the Survey Corps, is something that I can’t let him know.

“I already know about most things don’t I?”

His voice was rising a bit. It this escalated any more then I have to take this outside.

“Listen here Eren. You know something about me but there is a hell of a lot more for you to know and be tainted with. Do you understand? So in a few weeks choose for yourself whichever decision you regret the least.”

I stood up, sending the chair scarping back with force that made him jump a little and poured the remainder of my coffee away down the sink.

“So you will tell me if I think about it more?”

“When you choose the one you will regret the least.”

I knew he was looking at me confused but I wasn’t going to explain it to him. Time for the brat to have a life lesson.

“Go to bed now brat, I have some paperwork to do and you will be in a foul mood in the morning”

Eren moved his mouth to object but I was already leaving. This conversation was over as far as I was concerned. I am going to lock myself in the office with a pile of paperwork and do whatever the fuck I do in the morning

 

* * *

 

Seven times.

Seven times Hanji had entered her room, spent five minutes and then walked out again with no true goal in mind. I watched her each time, positioned outside Eren’s bedroom with this morning’s breakfast balanced on my fingers waiting for bison brows to get him ready.

Something was off and it wasn’t just the eggs. The young Lady was right, something’s wrong with the chickens. _Might be time to have chicken for dinner and get some new ones in._

Erwin had refused to meet my gaze this morning and Hanji was behaving so much more hyperactive and odd this morning. And by the constant checking it would seem my plan of smuggling drugs has fallen at the first hurdle.

I grimaced at the thought of my lack of skill. This wasn’t like me. Wait… That’s a fucking good thing. If I was fooling them then the old me would be back. At least I have a little bit a humanity left to allow me to make pathetic mistakes.

Being torn between being happy at having humanity and seeing your useless attempt at stealing is painful. I feel like a bloody three year old again trying to get a purse from a woman’s bag.

I heard the click of the door beside me, the shadow of the valet looming over me but I only gave him a side glance and he still didn’t fucking meet my gaze.

Not bothering to voice my views I moved to enter the bedroom. _At least the brat got back to sleep after our small discussion this morning_. I didn’t sleep but on the plus side I got all of the morning paperwork finished leaving me an opening to steal some more pills.

One question.

How?

“What’s wrong Levi?”

“Apart from being up at three in the morning, nothing”

I placed the tray on the table Eren was sat at before moving to force his chair.

“Don’t take me for an idiot Levi. I was up early this morning making a pros and cons list on whether wanting to know the real you. And I heard Erwin and Hanji talking about you”

I froze at this point, my eyes narrowing dangerously at the brat before me as he looked at me with a determined glint in his eyes, a grin widening across his face.

“What do you want, you little shit?”

* * *

 

“Erwin”

Erwin raised his head at the sound of his voice, straightening his back a little and placing the shoe and polish down when he saw Hanji closing the door quietly.

From the way her movement lacked energy and the fact she hadn’t barrelled into the room meant something was colossally wrong.

She sat down before him, leaning her elbows on her legs and then her head on her hands.

“I’m missing a jar of painkillers”

Erwin’s brows furrowed greatly, he giving her a questioning look before speaking in a calm tone.

“You sure you haven’t lost them?”

The reply he got was a look that said ‘ _stop being a moron’_. She rubbed her chin gently, removing her glasses from her face and began to clean them on a scarp of cloth she had in her pocket.

“They were mild ones, nothing serious. I was out of my room this afternoon, but Moblit was in there all day and only stepped out about 2:30pm for five minutes to get a drink.”

Erwin didn’t reply for a minute, staring at the half polished shoe before him. He moved his head into his clean hand, clutching his forehead before finally looking up at her.

“He was with me from 1am while 4am. Never left my side all that time since we were working in his office”

“Do you think we have the wrong person Erwin?

Hanji wasn’t looking at him now. She had slid her glasses back on to her face, and had tilted her head away so the setting sun’s final rays ignite her glasses in fire, hiding her eyes and thoughts.

“It’s possible. We were pointing finger quickly. But who else in this house has a record of stealing, maiming and cunning?”

Hanji didn’t reply, just drummed her fingers on her arm. With no response from her he picked up the shoe and began his work again. It was nearing Lady Carla’s anniversary of her death so everything had to be prepared the go to the grave.

“I have another plan. This should catch the thief.”

Erwin head shot up and almost jumped back when he saw Hanji right in front of his, her faces inches from his with a look in her eye that shouted ‘ ** _danger_** ’.

He opened his mouth to speak but she shot up, standing and began to walk away.

“I’ll tell you later. I need to go for a shit.”

“……”

 

_Nice Hanji, nice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
>  Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
>  Butler- Levi  
>  Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
>  Valet- Erwin Smith
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
>  Lady- Carla Yeager  
>  Doctor's assistant- Moblit Berner


	12. Fools and Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi rather not involve Eren anymore in his previous life but sometimes it can be the only way to save and look after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ The animals in this chapter are a pair of Tibetan mastiff  
> ⚔ Sorry it is late! I needed to watch the new episode of Game of Thrones!  
> ⚔ The release date might change soon. Exam season is approaching and I need to get good grades!  
> ⚔ Next chapter you can choose what you want. There will be a plot development at start with Levi/Eren but you have a choice of having the rest of the chapter Jean/Mikasa, Jean/Marco or Reiner/Bertolt. Just comment to decide!
> 
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

“Why the _fuck_ is there two demon dogs in the lab?”

Levi burst through the door to servant’s hall, storming in and yanking a chair out for him to sit on as a glare that could incinerate on the spot was directed at the mad woman opposite him.

Said woman had her head on the table, snoring peacefully (and fakely). Levi’s eyes slanted over to Erwin who was perched two seats away from Hanji with the local newspaper on the table in front of him. He gave Levi a shrug of his shoulder, glancing over at Hanji before turning back to something more interesting in the newspaper.

“Hanji, I know you are awake. I can see your brain cogs freaking out”

He proceeded to sit down on the chair he had yanked out as he saw Hanji’s eyelashes twitch gently before they flickered open and looked up at him.

“What were you doing in my lab anyway?”

Levi raised a thin eyebrow at her as her oversized eyes stared up at him. He released a heavy sigh. It was too early in the morning to be interrogated by this lunatic.

“Because Jean will never make the same mistake again after I get him”

Levi growled the sentence both from irritation of remembering what he had had to do and Hanji’s question. He hoped that this was the last of the questions. Drawing his hand into his sparrow tailed coat, he pulled out several letters.

He slid two over to Erwin, who thanked him and slapped one in front of Hanji’s face but he wasn’t surprised when she didn’t flinch at the movement.

“I thought that was Reiner’s job to deliver the mail to everyone. Connie sorts it and Reiner delivers”

It was Erwin that spoke this time, picking up a piece of sliced apple and offered Levi some. Levi just gave a shake of his head and reached over to the pot of tea close by, preparing himself one and taking a sip to calm the itching in his throat. Stupid dogs making him nearly shit himself.

“Well if you actually check the staff board I put my ass into doing then you see Reiner has the day off and has pissed off with Bertolt to somewhere.”

Erwin rolled his eyes at his outburst, chewing another piece of apple before closing his eyes. Right, Hanji’s plan was working but then again, Levi had a valid reason to be in there.

“Someone’s snappy. Don’t like dogs that much?”

Levi turned his gaze from Erwin to Hanji, who had raised her head off the table. Both Erwin and Levi subdued a chuckle at the large red mark on her cheek and the dishevelled hair on one side. Made her look just how insane she really was.

“I don’t mind them. They are unhygienic so I don’t think they should be kept in the lab where people come with injuries do you? But I don’t like them when they are attempting to bit my balls off”

Hanji just broke into a large smile, righting her glasses that were half way down her nose.

“Not my fault Levi. The guy I got them off says they were mistreated by a short greasy black haired man so they are a little over aggressive. By the way, their names are Sawney and Bean”

Hanji smile launched into a grin, waiting for the reaction from Levi but all she got was a raised eyebrow before a roll of the eyes. Her lips formed into a pout from the grin as the slamming of the back door all drew their eyes to it.

Jean carried two brown bags full of fruit and vegetables followed by Marco simply carrying one as he kicked the door shut after him.

Levi stood abruptly, sending his chair scarping back which caused Marco to give a small jump and Jean to look stunned at the sudden sound.

“Kirstein, repair room. Now”

Levi strode down the corridor towards the repair room. Jean frowned at the sudden summon and exchanged a confused and slightly terrified glance with Marco. Hanji and Erwin didn’t give that much away since Erwin was back to reading the paper and Hanji appeared to return to a dormant state on the table.

Jean placed the two bags on the kitchen table, feeling a gentle hand on his shoulder as he looked over and saw Marco giving him a confidence giving smile, nodding that it was alright for him to put these away on his own.

In return Jean released a heavy breath and disappeared down the corridor and into the repair room, closing the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

Hanji and Erwin appeared from the staff room as soon as the door clicked shut, listening carefully and Marco joined them too. Not because he was curious but because putting things away would cause noise and he didn’t fancy a scolding or glare from either of his superiors.

The voices were pretty quiet behind the door and Jean only raised his voice once which was obvious silence by a glare from Levi. It last five minutes before they both left, Jean not actually looking that pale from being in a room with Levi.

The said man was disappearing up stairs, most likely to get Eren ready for his lesson. Early again since his fiancée was coming over again.

“Hey, Miss Zoe? Mr Heichou mentioned something about feeding my balls to a Sawney and Bean? He said to talk to you if I didn’t understand”

Erwin and Hanji exchanged a look before Erwin disappeared upstairs to go dress the young Lord. Hanji turned back to Jean, quickly grabbing his wrist and began to drag him upstairs, a frenzied glint in her eyes and her lips pulled into maniacal grin.

“Don’t worry Jean, you can come and meet my babies!”

Jean faced fell into shock. Who had the courage or loss of brain cells to actually do anything other than talk to Hanji? Talking to her took bravery beyond normal.

“Don’t give me that look Jean”

She didn’t even turn around and Jean just blink at her once and slowly let his face fall into a normal face, one struggling to keep emotions back.

“There not my babies but something I’ve adopted!”

They stood at the door way of her lab as she forced the door opened and allowed Jean to wander in. He had been in here plenty of times before; nothing seemed different apart from the two large dog beds and four dishes in the corner. Wait. Dog beds?

His eye caught a black shapes charging towards him from the corner of his eye.

 

……………

He was knocked out for three hours from shock.

* * *

 

“What do you mean demon dogs?”

“Exactly what I say brat. Hanji has got two fucking dogs half my height in her lab that hates short black haired men!”

“What are they? Jack Russell?”

Levi slowly looked over at him, narrowing his eyes dangerous at Eren at the obviously insult at his height. Eren was simply laid on his bed, soaking up the last of the summer sun through his open window as Levi tided away his evening tea.

Levi didn’t bother to reply, he was exhausted by the day he had had and couldn’t be arse to give in the taunts. Eren just simply tilted head and rolled off the bed, moving closer and placing a hand on Levi’s shoulder (even though he knew Levi could growl at and shout at him due to germs and cleaniness).

He felt the muscles tense under his hand as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his head, gently speaking into Levi’s ear.

“Sorry. I’ve seen them and they are large dogs, but they seem to become puppies for me”

“Well fucking good for you. If you haven’t realised I didn’t want you to steal the pills more than once.”

Eren raised his chin, slipping his hand off Levi’s shoulder and released a small gulp, moving forward and slowly wrapped his arms around Levi.

Levi’s eyes widened for a moment but allowed the brat to pull him into a hug, secretly enjoying the warmth through his clothes on his back. He could feel himself beginning to enjoy it as his eyes slowly closed before shooting open.

“You’ve not fucking had your bath yet! Get off me, you’re covered in sweat and only fucking god knows what!”

Levi broke free easily of the hug before Eren had chance to try and keep him close and in the hug. He turned around to see Eren’s usual pout, those oceanic eyes doing the puppy eyes motion that almost made him feel pity. Almost.

“Eren, go get in the fucking bath you brat”

Eren’s face fell slightly at the idea his pout and puppy eyes didn’t work, rubbing the back of his neck as a faint redness came over his nose. He neared Levi again and was surprised when Levi didn’t take a step back since apparently he was ‘covered in sweat’ but glad all the same.

“Only if you join me”

He whispered gently, giving a small wink to the monotone face that Levi had on all the time. He swore he saw a glint of lust in there but it was quickly removed and replaced by the entrance of Hell.

“If you’re not in that bath I’ll-”

Levi gently leaned forward to beside Eren’s head, smoothly whispering into his ear and with each word the glint of lust in Eren’s eyes began to disappear and the colour draining from his face. Just before Levi finished he drew back and bolted through the bathroom door, leaving Levi smirking.

“A new record I believe”

* * *

 

“Hey Eren”

“Yes, yes, I’m almost done Levi.”

“You need to come here. We may have a little problem”

Eren groaned, slipping on his shirt and quickly left the bathroom, tripping over his trouser bottoms as he tried to pull them up and button them while he walked.

“What the little problem?”

Levi pointed from the balcony to a few balconies down to one with a faint orange glow, most likely from a small candle.

“That’s my father’s study isn’t it? What’s the little problem?”

Levi gave him a side glance, but was actually checking the room to make sure no one else was present before looking back at the light which was getting dimmer, showing the candle was moving away from the window.

“You father is at another Lord’s house. And I have the only key for the staff to get into the study”

It took Eren ten seconds to clue the piece together before speaking in a louder force.

“A burglar?! Why aren’t you doing anything? We need to stop him”

Levi looked over at the brat, gently shaking his head before looking toward the growing light again.

“He had the Survey Corps logo on his cloak. If he’s caught then he exposes me, you and Erwin. But I have an idea.”

Eren frowned at the use of Erwin’s name. He still didn’t know the story behind Levi and Erwin. Had they both been in the Survey Corps? If not how did they meet? Why did they know each other so well? Had they been lovers? He shook his head, forcing all the questions to one side before looking at Levi.

“Yeah, what is it?”

Levi dipped his hand into his trouser pocket, pulling out a worn bronze key and pressed into Eren’s chest till he reached and took hold of it. He examined it closely, looking at Levi for a reason but all he got was a small side smirk as he manoeuvred around him and back into the bed room.

“Meet you down at back door 5. You know what to do”

Levi gave him a shrug and disappeared through the door leaving Eren to stare at the key in his hand, looking at the pattern over it and trying to picture a lock that it would fit.

It took him a good five minutes before it struck him, he grasping the key hard and headed for the door. A smirk filled his face as he shook his head, muttering.

“You’re the devil Levi”

* * *

 

Levi leaned against the cool stone of the archway, standing in the darkness as he waited silent for Eren or the burglar to appear or sound.

The coolness of the night nipped at his face and hands as he soon heard the sound of shoes against sandstone. He looked from the archway, up the study balcony of a small hooded figure climbing nimbly down a ladder, landing silently and brought down the ladder.

While he was fumbling to gather the ladder up Levi looked down the corridor and released a sigh of relief as Eren’s figure appeared from the darkness, Sawney and Bean dragging him along by the leads he was holding in either hand.

Levi was thankful they had muzzles on. Both to prevent barking or biting his balls off but by the way they were looking at him and tensing their jaws they wanted to have a go regardless of the muzzles.

The noise of scrambling filled the sound; obviously the burglar had gotten ready and was making a break for the forest on the edge of the Yeager estate. Levi could see the figure darting across the gardens, dodging flower beds as the wings of freedom on his back glinted in the moon light.

The dogs were becoming more and more excitable at the movement. It helped the fact it was dark and the man was short. Levi and Eren exchanged one look, a mutual understanding passing between them.

Eren reached down, undoing the muzzles of both of the dogs. Levi watched the dogs carefully, ready to move in case they wanted him but their eyes were set of the gradually getting smaller figure before them.

Eren reached down, holding their collar as Levi slowly (carefully) undid the leads to each one before muttering.

“Time to hunt”

Eren released the collars and the dogs didn’t waste a second as they began their hunt, they soon disappearing into the darkness of where the man had gone.

Neither Levi nor Eren said anything during the time, Eren slowly shuffling over to Levi for warmth as he pressed his chest against Levi’s but didn’t bother to initiate a hug.

For a few minutes silence hung heavy in their air but was shattered by the distant scream of a man and the snarls of animals.

Levi gave a heavy sigh, rubbing his temples gently before muttering loud enough for Eren to hear.

“I hope blood is easy to clean from dog fur”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
> Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
> Butler- Levi  
> Doctor/Teacher- Zoe Hanji  
> Valet- Erwin Smith  
> First Footman- Jean Kirstein  
> Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
> Tibetan mastiff (Hanji's babies)- Sawney and Bean  
> Random (now dead) Survey Corps member- Darren Hunnisett
> 
> Mentioned:- (Simply mentioned by a person or within context)  
> Second Footman- Reiner Braun  
> Chamber Servent- Bertolt Hoover


	13. Blood and Pastries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did happen after the hunt and where did Jean and Marco go while Levi was delivering mail?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚔ Sorry its late! Had serious writers block for this chapter but it came after going into a certain shop.  
> ⚔ Jean/Marco won!  
> ⚔ The release date might change soon. Exam season is approaching and I need to get good grades!  
> ⚔ I really didn't know how to end the Jean/Marco part of the chapter so it maybe a bit abrupt.
> 
> Also you can check for updates and ask any questions by my tumblr  
> http://s--n--k--t.tumblr.com/

They waited around twenty minutes to the sounds. Well, the screaming lasted about two minutes (thankfully) and the snarls died down about a minute after.

Eren frowned down at Levi, who wasn’t budging a single bit and gently poked his shoulder to make sure he was still awake. When Levi didn’t respond he poked a few more times before a hand flew up and grabbed his finger, pressurising it to the point of breaking.

“Don’t Eren. Let’s go get those dogs.”

Levi released the finger, Eren in return stumbling a little bit as his finger shot into his mouth, shucking it gently to try and ease to hot throbbing pain in it. He shuffled quickly after him, trying to keep us with Levi’s fast pace (to the surprise because of the short legs).

“How do you know where the dogs are?”

He saw Levi look over his shoulder, those grey eyes being ignited by the moonlight to look like liquid silver. He had a bored expression before giving a shrug of his shoulders and turned to look forward once more.

“No idea. Just trusting my judgement and instincts”

Eren opened his mouth to speak but slowly closed it again. Levi had told him he fought on instinct and after he had seen what Levi was capable he trusted those instincts Levi had. Well to the point where they were rarely wrong.

After five minutes of walking a copper smell hit their nostrils. An extra five points to the ‘trust of Levi’s instincts’.

They arrived at a river and just beside the bridge that over the river was two dogs, laid down and gnawing on something that probably were a limb and of course, the broken body of the man.

As soon as Levi stepped into the clearing, followed by Eren, the dog’s heads rose from the human feast and they began growl low at the two approaching. Their golden eyes focused in on Levi who stared at them back but didn’t take a step forward towards them.

They watched as the dogs began to raise to their paws, moving away from each other to go two either side of Levi. Now closer they could see the black jaws pulled back to reveal rows of healthy, vicious looking canines that were tainted with red.

Their muscles began poised, ready to strike at Levi who stood there, slowly reaching into his jacket to grabs the knife he kept with him just in case of a fight (he never expected to use it against a pair of dogs but there you go).

Before he could even grasp the hilt he felt a strong grip on his shoulder and before he could question it he was yanked back, stumbling to keep his balance as he fell behind Eren. The dogs focused on Eren instead of Levi and still seemed tense but they were quietening down.

Levi frowned at the sudden change in the dog’s behaviour. He looked back at Eren for a reason but he still had his back to Levi but he could see his chin moving, speaking silent words that every soon had the dogs relaxed and sitting on their hind panting.

Eren released a heavy sigh was they had relaxed. He still didn’t understand how he knew the world to control dogs but it worked anyway. _Thankfully since Levi was still in one piece_.

“I’m not even going to ask fucking how brat. Just muzzle them and leash them while I see what we can do with this corpse”

Levi stood up straight, dusting the shoulder off that Eren had touched out a habit and walked cautiously past the dormant dogs, which only gave a half-hearted growl at him.

Eren made a weird, mocking salute by putting his fist to his head then point it to the sky.

“You sure you haven’t been in the army?”

Now he was closer to them he saw the fur was saturated in the man’s blood. Levi just arrived at the body till he turned and looked over at Eren when he said his name.

“These dogs are full of blood”

Levi looked at him, then to two dogs before speaking.

“Throw a stick in the river. It’s not a fast current and gives them a bath and us an excuse to being out here.”

Eren gave a quick nod, standing up and jogged over the forest edge, looking for a suitable stick. Well one big and thick enough to the break when bitten by the two dogs. It took a few second to find a good one and when he turned around the dogs were there, alert and their large fluffy tails wagging with excitement, their eyes focused on the stick in his hand.

He moved past them, the bouncing around his feet ready to chase the stick. He smiled gently at the over grown puppies (in his eyes) and lobbed the stick into the water, watching it float down the river and then the two large splashes of the two bodies entering the water after it.

Levi was knelt by the body all this time. It wasn’t a pretty sight but he had seen much worse in his time in the Survey Corps. This man got off lightly.

It appeared they attacked the ankle first, since there was a simple bite mark to make him fall then went straight for the neck, which must have been the chunk of flesh a few meters away to the body’s right.

He was laid on his stomach and by the lack of organs around it seemed that had been preserved. _Thank god, bodies I can deal with but attempting to shove the organs back in, a little bit hard to deal with._

The body was missing a right forearm but a bone laid close by with the fresh teeth marks in and a half eaten hand close by to it.

“You don’t just walk into a house I work in and expect to escape their alive, did you?”

Levi said quietly to the corpse, reaching into his jacket and drew out the knife. He held the messenger bag strap, cutting and dragging it from the body, fortunately with no blood on it.

He slid the knife back into the secret pocket and then produced his white gloves, slipping them onto his hands. He listened to the splashing and Eren’s chuckles at the dogs acting like puppies before proceeding to pick up any flesh or bits and pieces of the body and places them on top of the main one.

“Eren, are they ready yet?”

Eren looked up from the river bank, glancing at the now red gloves before back at the dogs and nodded. He whistled gently, the dogs suddenly ignoring the stick and paddles back to him. He climbed up the bank and so did them, not before shaking and splattering water all over Eren. He was glad it was no longer pink or red, just plain water.

Eren secured the muzzle and lead on both of them, moving back to the forest edge to allow Levi to do his work.

Levi watched it all and once they were a fair distance away from him he removed the bottle of spirit from his pocket and flicked open the lid. He didn’t bat an eyelid as he began to pour the liquid over the body and nor did he as he turned and struck a match, throwing it over his shoulder as he walked away.

The body instantly ignited in flames but Levi didn’t bother to turn back, knowing if he did he would regret it. Eren was looking to the side as well, the dogs whining a little bit at the small bonfire close by.

They exchanged a look as they began to walk back towards the house before looking forward. Levi released a heavy sigh, closing his eyes.

“Sorry to bring you into my world Eren”

“Don’t be Levi. We follow different pathways under the same law. If you lose, you die. If you win, you live. If you don't fight, you can't win.”

 

* * *

 

“Come on Jean, Levi will have our balls made into some gloves if we don’t hurry”

I waited impatiently at the door of the grocery shop, watching as Jean was messing with the horse harnesses outside the shop. Don’t get me wrong, seeing Jean frustrated face with added redness from the sun is perfect but the threat of Levi was too strong.

Last time we were late he took a cucumber and two oranges. He slashed the cucumber in half with a cleaver then peeled the oranges with a knife, giving them to us afterwards and simply stating “Next time it won’t be oranges” before leaving.

This sent a cold shiver, even in this heat, down my spine from those words. He had yet to do it but we had yet to be late again and I didn’t fancy trying to test Levi’s threat.

I closed my eyes and released a hot sigh, listening to the sounds of the street in front of me. It should really be noisier at this time; the market should be in full swing by now. The choir and organ in the church close by was faint but soothed my mind from the thought of being late.

Several bells rang out from the church, chiming all together but reached different pitches but with the range it was settling. I subconsciously began to count the rings after hearing Jean give out a groan, obviously his tying didn’t work and the sound brought a small smile to my face.

I waited for the next one but it never came. My eyes shot open, blinking more from the sudden summer sun. Jean said we left at eight. My head slowly turned towards him, the rein finally tied and him with his back to me.

“Why did you say it was eight Jean?”

Jean slowly turned around, his body facing me but his head turned to look the shops across the street, rubbing the back of his next gingerly.

“I can explain Marco, honestly”

My eyebrow shot up at his remark, watching him take a few strides towards me and finally met my eyes, where there was stubbornness I could have sworn was replaced by embarrassment. I decided definitely embarrassment as a faint blush was over his nose and cheek.

“Well I know you don’t like leaving till the right time, so I needed to make it seem like we are late so you could go quickly.”

“That doesn’t really explain the reason behind it Jean.”

I wasn’t angry at him that much. It was better not being as busy as it does later since we can walk together in a straight line instead of moving like a serpent through the forest of people and getting separated.

“Well there is a new pastry shop opened here, and I wanted to try it out and thought you wanted to go but our days off never crossed so this was the only way without facing the demon”

I noticed he had gone a shade darker red and a small smile came to my face. I thought it was small but by the way that Jean began even redder I guess it was a bigger.

“I’ll let you off this time. I won’t tell Levi if you buy me something to eat and drink”

Jean’s faced relaxed into a smile, giving a small nod in reply.

“I think I can do that”

I felt his hand fall around my wrist, holding it tight as he lead me into the grocery shop, taking out the list from his jacket pocket and began to read it over.

I simply stood in silence and embracing the warmth on my wrist, letting him read the list. I just wished he was a slow reader and I had a chance to hold that warmth for longer.

It still bugged me on how deep red the blush was before. He had asked a few others to go with him previous to different cafés and never did it. But he’s never asked me before so am I a last resort?

But the blush. This is way too confusing for me.

“What’s wrong?”

The confusion must have been present on my face because Jean’s voice broke me from the trance I was in, blinking once and looked at a furrowed brow, his eyes filled with concern and darting around my face.

I wasn’t a last resort.

I gave him a small comfortable smile as I reached my hand up and gave a gentle tap on his nose, shaking my head gently. He looked stunned at the movement for a second but the furrow disappeared and was replaced by a large grin.

He began to move away and I waited for the warmth to leave my wrist. Yeah it would be disappointing to suddenly lose the warmth I was enjoying but at least I had an idea I actually meant something to him.

What came instead was me almost falling flat on my face from being dragged. I stumbled forward, closely crashing into Jean. I looked up from my bent position, Jean looking down at me with a raised eyebrow and it was my turn to go bright red. No faint red for me. Full blast red.

Jean gave out a laugh at either my face or my action or both but it only sent me brighter red. God, that laugh had to be made from the heavens. Just listening to it could bring a grin to my face but in my current situation it made me feel more embarrassed.

His hand on my wrist slowly moved to my hand, grasping it firmly and pulled me back to standing straight. I scratched my cheek slowly, the wanting of the earth to open and swallow me up growing stronger by the second.

Only now did I realise Jean hand was still on mine and that did nothing to help the blush that was probably turning all my freckles red as well.

“Erm, Jean?”

Jean blinked from his trance, his eyes looking at my face but seem slightly distant but snapped back at my voice. He looked at our hands before turning a darker shade of red and pulled it back quickly, looking away as I gave a small chuckle.

“We better hurry up if we want to go to this new pastry shop”

This turned Jean’s head, giving me an obedient nod to me and hurriedly led me deeper into the shop.

 

Still holding my hand.

 

* * *

 

We were seated beside the window of the pastry shop.

Personally I can see why it had become so popular after five days.

The whole shop gave a cosy feel with the cream and rich brown colours along with the staff being quite peppy. The open window beside us was an added bonus.

A young waitress who had her blonde hair up in a small bun skipped over to us, her cheeks rosy from their make up or the heat. I thought the latter most likely but it suited her and the atmosphere.

I looked Jean, whose gaze was focused on me but his eyes glazed and in another world. I would have liked to keep him that way. Since that way I could stare at him as well without him noticing. I didn’t know what was going in his own little world but I hoped I was involved in it. Big hope but we all have dreams.

When the waitress handed us our menus Jean finally snapped from his trance and seemed to realise he had been staring at me by the way he tried to hide himself behind the menu. He gave a nervous laugh and slowly peeked over it.

I quickly went to look at mine, not wanting to be caught staring and glanced down the menu.

“Jean, it way too expensive for us. Just look at the price of a simple coffee!”

My voice only raised a little bit and my mouth still open to continue when I caught Jean’s frown, he quickly cutting me off from my next sentence.

“I said I was bringing you here and I am treating.”

He looked like he was about to say something else but those light brown eyes glinted with uncertainty and by the small frown he was obvious internally debating something. I glanced back down at the menu, searching for the cheapest thing on there. Obvious coffee for the drink and my eyes moves down the endless lists of pastries, breads and crepes.

“Fine, I brought you here but you seemed down about that bitch berating your Dakqoise. So I thought this would cheer you up.”

My head shot up at the words, meeting his light brown eyes. Fuck. I don’t normally swear, not even internally but this seemed an appropriate time to change that habit. I opened by mouth to say something, even correct him that it was actually called Dacquoise but nothing but a small whine came from my mouth.

Jean’s face gave a faint blush at the whine, placing his hand over his mouth to hide a small chuckle.

I looked back down at the menu, my hand fidgeting in the lap trying to keep my emotion contained and now allowing it to spill all of them from my mouth. A small smile grew on my face slowly.

The warmth was growing slowly in my chest, my hand reaching up and gently began to rub the area. The words he had just spoken stoked the fire in my chest even more. If he just valued me as a friend or more I didn’t care at this precise moment. Just let this moment continued on. Please God.

“I’ll have a coffee with crepes covering in lemon juice please”

My voice was quieter than normal but I was just pleased it worked now. I slowly looked up; thankfully Jean was looking down at his menu. His hair covered his face from this angle so I couldn’t see his expression.

His voice came out as quiet as mine.

“I’ll have the same then, but with sugar instead.”

Sweet and sour.

Opposites.

A guy can dream the old term is right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appearance:- (Had dialogue/actions)  
>  Young Lord- Eren Yeager  
>  Butler- Levi  
>  First Footman- Jean Kirstein  
>  Cook or Chef- Marco Bott  
>  Tibetan mastiff (Hanji's babies)- Sawney and Bean


	14. Problem

Unfortunately my laptop's hinge broke leaving me unable to write the next chapter. It broke on easter and yesterday was a bank holiday so I was unable to get it seen to till today. Don't know how long it will take to fix but hopefully not long. Sorry but I was looking forward to writing this next chapter and planning a new fanfic (I needed to get this aot/dragon fanfic out of my system)·

 

So sorry everyone! I'll update with any new information.

 

~Night

 


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